Inside Out
by X-Keva-X
Summary: What will Kagome do to get to Sesshoumaru? Or better yet what will he do to her once she has him?
1. Chapter 1

Alright I know I said I most likely wasn't going to do any more Sess/Kag stories but this one was already in the works (from some several years ago) AND I said I wasn't going to do anything new. To me this isn't new it's very old. Now some of you who have been following me for a long long LONG time practically since I first started writing fanfics will recognize this fic and those of you who haven't... well it'll be new to you.

Now just so you know this is the fic that brought about the creation of everyone's favorite neko Kei; however his first real breakout into the fandom was through _'Patience Thy Name Is Sesshoumaru'_. He may seem a little off in this and though I'm rewriting it after it sitting in a file for near on four years now you'll just have to bare with me. This fic was his first test drive and I hadn't quite worked out all the kinks in his personality so if something gets missed or he's a little weird and off I apologize in advance.

Well I think that about does it. Hope you enjoy; much love for you all. Keva

Oh and P.S. I just want to say thanks to all of you who read and reviewed Adoption. I wish I could take the time to respond to all the **awesome** reviews but I just don't have that kind of time and I wouldn't be able to get new things for you to enjoy posted. So once again thanks for sticking with me through that long LONG journey. I have to say though part of me is sad it's finally over however another much bigger part is happy to have that monkey off my back. (giggles) Whelp I'll let ya all go now so you can get on with your life instead of reading my ramblings. Chow till next time!

xx

Sesshoumaru stood silently in the darkened shadows of the forest the white silk of his haori whipping around his body in the wind. His long silver hair fluttered wildly around him as his jaki swirled around his body. His deep ambers locked on to his prey as a white light enveloped him. His eyes slowly bled red, as the magenta stripes on his cheeks became stretched and ragged.

Once the light had cleared a massive white dog stood where in his place; snarling while poison dripped from his huge canines. He dug his hindquarters into the soft forest floor and launched himself forward to begin his attack.

He caught his prey easily for the beast was no match for him. He relished in the sound of the beast's bones cracking and breaking between his teeth and the taste of its hot blood coating his tongue. Hearing the beast scream out in agony only enhanced the great white dog's appetite for pain and suffering. The fear that rolled off the lowly creature gave the beast a great desire for more.

He swallowed his meal and began his hunt anew. His master had kept him locked away for far too long and failed to release him to feed when the need arose. He could feel him within trying to regain control but he wouldn't have it. Not until he at least had eaten his fill and stretched his tight muscles from being locked away in his tiny cage for so long.

xx

Kagome sat by the river with her face buried in her hands while her tears seeped out between her fingers. Inuyasha had exiled her from the group and said that he would destroy her only way home. Not only would he destroy it he would make sure that there was no way that the well could be repaired to ever be used again.

It wasn't her fault really; it was all a misunderstanding. She had been telling Sango about the latest attempt from Hojo in trying to get her to go out with him. For years she had refused the boys advances and he never took no for an answer. She had to always wonder if at some point in time Koga died and he was reincarnated into Hojo being the two were just alike. Koga; maybe she could go and live with him. It was her only option, seeing as she could never go home again, nor could she return to the village.

Inuyasha told her that if he ever came a cross her again he would kill her. Why wouldn't he let her explain that she wasn't talking about him when she said all those nasty things? Probably because he just came from seeing Kikyo and she had been poisoning his mind against her.

Kikyo would tell him that she Kagome thought of him the same way all ningen did, and that she called him names behind his back.

He came back to the group just as she was calling Hojo a stupid baka who couldn't take no for an answer. He being quick to jump to conclusions and hotheaded had grabbed her by the shoulders and began to yell in her face. Telling her how she had betrayed him, talking behind his back like that, and how he thought that she was the only one who was truly his friend.

No matter how she had tried to protest, he wouldn't listen, even Sango tried to explain and he threw her aside. He grabbed all her stuff up, shoved her backpack into her hands, scooped her up and took off into the forest.

They traveled for quite sometime before he stopped next to the river that she was now sitting by and without a word he dropped her to the ground and took off back the way they came. As he disappeared from sight he told her that if he ever saw her again he would kill her and that she could forget about going home to her time. He said he was going to destroy the well beyond repair so that she could never go home again and for her to stay away from his village.

What was she supposed to do now? Part of her was hoping that he would calm down and realize that she would never say or do anything to hurt him. Although, she knew that Kikyo would make sure that he would always doubt her and her sincerity. So easy his mind was always poisoned by that woman.

She slowly stood and looked around her trying to decipher exactly where she was. Nothing looked familiar nor was there any kind of path leading anywhere. Her only option was to follow the river hoping it lead her to somewhere; but where?

She knew no one, she had no money, and Kami forbid were she to be attacked. She didn't have any weapons to protect herself and she wasn't really sure that she would be able to protect herself were she to be attacked even if she had her weapons. Inuyasha always told her that she was weak and wouldn't survive a day unless he was there to protect her. Well she would show him she would survive and make him pay for doing this to her.

xx

The giant dog tilted his head back and sniffed deeply of the air picking up a very familiar scent. This scent had always intrigued him but his master would never let him loose to investigate the source nor would he explain to him why he wouldn't set him free. Well now that he was free for a time he would find the source of the scent and if he liked it enough he would play with it.

Sesshoumaru watched from the inside while his beast hunted, he didn't mind too much, the thing did need to be freed to eat every now and again, but now he was after something to play with. This would not do at all he had to regain control of the animal before it did something that he would not like.

Never mind someone happening upon him and seeing his beast _playing_. He would be shamed and his title would be challenged; he WOULD NOT stand for it.

xx

Kagome felt a familiar youkai aura just beyond the trees. She could tell that it didn't pose a threat to her and that it was merely curious about her. Her brown eyes strained against the darkened forest looking for any sign of the one watching her, when her breath suddenly caught in her throat. A pair of red eyes were peering at her through the shadows.

Fear shot through her whole being; was it Naraku? Did he see Inuyasha leave her here with no protection and now he was here to kill her? No; since she didn't feel any malice coming from the youkai so it couldn't be him... well she hoped anyway.

She slowly grabbed her stuff and began to back away from whatever was watching her. When she could no longer see the eyes looking at her, she turned, and took off running.

Not realizing what a huge mistake that was.

Sesshoumaru watched as his beast pounced on the girl being she did the one thing she shouldn't have done to an inu; run. He had a vision of her being torn apart by his beast not intentionally while playing with her. It did not distinguish between big and small in its mind they were the same size. He had to regain control and he had to do it now.

The white dog looked down at the cowering girl in front of him. The scent of her fear was overpowering the scent that had brought him to her in the first place. He didn't know what to do; he wanted to sniff her over but not with the scent of fear. He let out a tremendous growl of disapproval thinking that that would be enough of a warning for her to stop fearing him.

Kagome froze, that growl was worse, than him just standing there looking at her. She didn't know if she had done something to the daiyōkai to make him come at her as he did or if he had lost control of his beast. She didn't think that someone like Sesshoumaru would ever lose control of his beast but anything was possible. She didn't know what to do she knew if she ran away it would only serve to agitate the giant dog so she just stood there keeping her eyes focused on the moon between his eyes.

Sesshoumaru watched her staring at his forehead and knew that his beast would think her to be staring him down causing him to react as if she was challenging him. His battle for command wasn't going very well his beast was very determined to stay in control. As he continued to watch and battle his beast from the inside, he hoped that the miko would realize what kind of danger she really was in.

Another growl erupted from the dog before her; another warning but she didn't understand.

What was she suppose to do? She had an idea on how to handle Inuyasha when his beast took control of him but this was Sesshoumaru. Handling the taiyoukai of the west who had lost control of his beast was on a whole other level one she was sure she couldn't handle.

His beast was getting angrier by the second the girl wasn't submitting as she should. He could feel his beast ready to take action against the defiant female. _'Why won't she submit to me? Does she not know that I am the master? She must be shown who is dominant then she will calm._'

Sesshoumaru had had about all he could take with one final push he felt his control slowly coming back into his hand.

Kagome watched as the beast howled out in annoyance as his eyes began to flicker between the red they were now to the gold she had seen so many times. Sesshoumaru was battling for control and he looked to be winning. She held her breath wondering who would win the struggle inside.

_'No he will not have control of me yet! I want to play with the female and show her that she is to submit to me.'_ The beast attacked his master with all the strength he could muster he wasn't going to relinquish control to him until he was good and ready.

Kagome kept watching as the battle raged on waiting for the outcome. She thought for sure that Sesshoumaru was finally gaining control but suddenly the gold of his eyes began to change to red again. She wished there was something she could do to help him win out against his beast but she couldn't think of one thing she could do.

She took a step backwards hoping the battle between Sesshoumaru and his beast kept his beast distracted enough for her to make her escape. Slowly one step after another she got further and further away from the white dog. Just as she made it to the edge of the forest, two red eyes turned towards her telling her that the beast had regained complete control and he wasn't happy with her behavior.

The dog snapped his teeth at the retreating female informing her that she was going to be punished for her attempt at fleeing him. He leapt over to her and snatched her up between his teeth; not hard enough to kill her but enough to cause her serious pain. _'Why is she so small?'_ His beast wondered to himself. When he looked upon her she was the perfect size for him but now that he had her in his maw something wasn't right. He set her back down and watched as blood soaked her clothing.

Sesshoumaru was beyond angry; his beast had harmed the girl. He used his beast's distraction to try and once again gain control.

Kagome was shocked and more afraid than she had ever been. Not that she didn't think that he wouldn't harm her but she figured if he did he wouldn't let her live. Again his eyes flickered between red and gold, and Kagome didn't know what to do. She was bleeding badly from her stomach and she needed medical treatment soon.

She suddenly heard a rumbling deep voice startlingly her; it was Sesshoumaru's. "Do not move"

She was having a hard time maintaining her upright position she was becoming dizzy with the loss of blood and just wanted to lie down. She however didn't dare move. If he said not to move it meant that his beast was using her to gain strength against him making it harder for him to gain control.

Her breath was coming in short ragged breaths as the battle waged on before her. Finally, the beast's eyes maintained the gold indicating that Sesshoumaru was winning. Slowly the he began to change back into the form that she was more comfortable with and a little less afraid of.

Sesshoumaru had finally gained control and put the puppy back into its cage. That was the last time he would ever let it have complete freedom. It had been a long time since he had to battle his beast like this and even then it wasn't this difficult to control. Once he returned to him humanish form he saw that the girl had collapsed to the ground unconscious.

He was honorable and would heal her being it was his fault to an extent that she was hurt. Although rescuing another human from the brink of death was something he'd rather not do. The last one he saved he couldn't get rid of and he only saved her in order to test the tenseiga's abilities. Would this girl be the same and follow him around as she does the half-breed? If she tried he would inform her that he would not tolerate it and send her back to his idiot sibling.

He kneeled down, picked her up, and headed back to his home. There he would put his best healers to work on her. With them healing her she would be well enough to return to the half-breed in about one moon cycle. Possibly even shorter; since she was a miko she might heal faster then most ningen.

Kagome awoke to a sharp pain shooting through her body starting at her stomach. Her eyes snapped open to find an older woman leaning over her body pressing something against her stomach. She bit her bottom lip against the sting of her injury. She had to take her mind off the pain before she decided to slap the woman and take care of it herself.

So she looked around the room to try and figure out where she was. The room she was in was a pretty basic; square with white walls. There were no pictures or any furniture other than the bed and a wardrobe. There was a big window letting in the sunlight as it set in the horizon, making the room seem even brighter as the sun reflected off the white walls. She tried to ask the woman just where she was at but the woman wouldn't acknowledge that she had said anything.

This did not make her feel very comfortable. How was she suppose to _'relax'_ as the woman kept saying over and over as if that was the only word she knew if she didn't know where she was? When she was about to let her frustrations be known a powerful aura surrounded her and she knew immediately where she was; Sesshoumaru's.

Just as his name passed through her thoughts he walked into the room. He didn't say anything to her he just talked to the healer who as it turned out could say more than _'relax'_. Sesshoumaru then walked over to the edge of the bed and stared down at her as if it was her fault that she was there. She opened her mouth to let him know that if it weren't for his beast she wouldn't be here but her beat her to it.

"This Sesshoumaru apologizes for the actions of his beast." He gave her a nod then turned to leave the room. Just as he reached the door, he heard her whisper so low that he almost didn't catch what she had said.

"It's not your fault. Though part of me wishes your beast would have killed me."

He turned to look at her but she turned her head away from him and closed her eyes. He stepped out the door and quietly slid it closed behind him.

Now he was even more curious about the girl than ever. First off; what was she doing so far away from her group alone? Secondly; where was the half-breed? The miko was never far off from the mutt nor was he ever far off from her. Finally; why did she wish that his beast would have killed her? What had happened that would make the strong outspoken girl wish for death? Once she was well enough he was going to make her answer all his questions and sate his curiosity.


	2. Chapter 2

Now some of this will go up quick because I've already written about 35,000 words of this already it's just a matter of editing and fixing what I don't like. Though I just may only update on the weekends so I'll have the week to work on this fic and others; I'll let ya know. Thanks for reading and thanks for the reviews I'm glad to know you like it. Much love for you all. Keva

xx

The days crept by in an endless haze of boredom. All she did day in and day out was sit in her room healing not allowed to leave except to use the bathhouse. Was she here to get better or was she here as a prisoner? Sesshoumaru would grace her with his presence every now and again only to check and see how her healing was coming along... wordlessly of course.

Then a one sided argument would begin with her telling him that she wasn't an invalid and wanted to go outside. He would just stand there and stare down his nose at her boring into her with his hard ambers. The message was simple she would stay right where she was. She would counter this with; you don't own me. His response was him blinking in a slow languid way which for some reason always made her feel stupid. It was his way of informing her that as a resident under his roof he was the ultimate authority and she would do well to obey.

How she knew what he was saying to her with his body posture and very slight facial expression changes was beyond her. Yet, somehow his answers to everything she would ask or tell him was made loud and clear to her without a word.

Before he left the room this last time she informed him that he would have to let her go eventually. His answer was a barely noticeable wouldn't see it unless you were watching closely slight shrug of his shoulder before he closed the door.

She was frustrated beyond belief. She had to get out of the room and decided that once it was dark outside and everyone was asleep for the night, she was out of there. No healer was going to stop her, nor any guards, and most certainly not an arrogant demon lord.

Soon she would feel the night air on her skin and deep within her lungs she couldn't wait.

xx

She slowly crept out of her room not sure which way to go to get outside. What she did know was that every time Sesshoumaru would leave her room that he would go left so she decided that she would go to the right.

The decision it turned out was the best decision she made yet; she found Sesshoumaru's gardens. Finally was out in the open air free of the confines of the boring white institutional-esc room she was kept in.

Slowly making her way around the garden she found a bench overlooking the pond where she sat down and let her mind wander to the questions she had been ignoring for the past several weeks. What was she going to do once she was healed? Where would she go? Did Inuyasha still think that she was badmouthing him behind his back? Probably and he most likely brought Kikyo into the group to look for the shards.

She stood up, walked over to the pond, sat down at the edge of the water, and ran her fingers through it. "Forget it Kagome he will never want you back. You can't go home, you can't go back to the village, and you certainly can't stay here. Koga is your only option." She gave a snort at this but knew that that was truly her only option. Koga would welcome her with open arms and the promise of taking care of her for the rest of her life.

"I wish…." She didn't know what she wished for. Did she wish that she never met Inuyasha? No, for if that was true she might not have ever met the rest of her friends. What about shattering the jewel? She was fifty-fifty on that one. On one side Naraku might be a serious threat if she hadn't shattered the jewel. Yet, on the other side she and Inuyasha would have never had to set out on their journey to find the shards bringing them together with Shippou, Miroku, and Sango.

She decided to clear her head and just focus on getting better rather than worrying about what she was going to do once she was healed.

xx

Sesshoumaru watched the girl who disobeyed him from the shadows. What had she meant? Did the half-breed throw her away and if so why? What did she mean she couldn't go back home or to the village? Wasn't the village her home? Maybe she was from a different village; which would explain all her strange clothing and behavior.

Then there was the wolf prince. Why would she consider him her only option as somewhere to go? More importantly why would she want to go to a mangy wolf? He decided it was time for her to explain all of these things to him so that he could sate his curiosity and he could move on to more important things.

Kagome felt him approach her from behind and knew that he would be upset with her for leaving her room after he told her that she couldn't. However, she didn't care she was too happy to be out in the open air. So she got herself ready for the oncoming confrontation with the demon and was completely thrown off by what he asked her.

"Miko, why can't you go back to the half-breed?" He questioned when he came to stand next to her seated form.

Kagome looked up at him in shock that was definitely not what she had expected him to ask her. "Why do you want to know?"

Sesshoumaru looked down at the girl sitting at his feet giving her a glare of answer me or else.

She let out a sigh and began to explain to him what had happened that day prior to the encounter with his beast. Her explanation turned into an all out tale of her adventures up to that point. She tried to avoid telling him where her true home was but much to her dismay he used her words and questions that sounded more like orders to pry everything out of her.

Once her tale of her adventures with Inuyasha and the gang ended her own curiosity was piqued. She looked at the demon lord assessing whether or not she should ask him. From the look of him she figured that even if she asked he wouldn't answer her but she had to ask just for the one in a million chance that he might actually answer her.

"Uh, Sesshoumaru? How did you lose control of your beast?" As soon as he opened his mouth she cut him off.."I-know-you-don't-have-to-answer-a-lowly-ningen-such-as-myself-I-was-just-wondering-is-all."

Had he not been the taiyoukai that he was he wouldn't have been able to catch a single word that she had said but as it were he is. "You are correct in that I do not have to answer you but since you were not the cause of my beast's disobedience I will tell you."

Kagome sat there shocked he was actually going to answer her her the worthless ningen. She sat up straighter and leaned towards him a little. She wasn't going to miss a word that was about to come from his sexy mouth. Oh yes to her Sesshoumaru was very sexy and more than drool worthy. She wasn't above admitting that to herself; now or ever.

Sesshoumaru looked at the girl and saw that she was genuinely interested in what he had to say which made the girl even more intriguing to him. Usually he had to force people to listen to him especially that bastard Kei. Then again what he usually told people was that they were going to die and who wants to hear that? Nobody.

So he told her about letting beast have complete freedom to feed and stretch and that it took advantage of its freedom. He was loath to admit what had brought his beast to her but told her none the less.

Kagome sat there in awe. His beast had been interested in her well not her but her scent which really was still her. That was completely out of character for him she had always assumed that he and his beast were one one mind and one soul. Of course they had two bodies and she had seen them both under not so friendly terms.

Apparently they were two separate entities who were shackled to one another and one couldn't live with out the other. "So if your beast is so strong how is it you maintain control? I don't mean any disrespect to you or anything. It's just that your beast seems so powerful and I can't imagine how you are able to contain it." She blushed. "It's so massive and you seem so small in comparison."

Sesshoumaru glared down at the girl at his feet. Did she think him to be weak? "My beast may be powerful but he is not the most intelligent creature."

Kagome bit her bottom lip in concentration these two beings in two forms with two separate minds confused her. "I don't really understand' how is it that you and your beast are able to live as one but be two at the same time?" That question sent her mind spinning into a swirl that she could feel the beginnings of a headache coming on.

Sesshoumaru wasn't fairing much better then her. He had never thought about how he and his beast as she put it could be two yet one were really able to be. He was born with it, grew up with it, and trained with it but he never once thought about how they both lived as one. Someone had finally stumped him and he did not like this feeling of not having an answer. This posed another problem if he didn't answer her then she would know that he didn't know. Plus if he did give her an answer it would be a lie and that was one thing in his life he never would do.

This was agitating his beast as well it wanted free so that it could kill the one making its head hurt.

Kagome watched in horror as Sesshoumaru's eyes began to bleed red. She had to do something to stop his beast from taking over and she had to do it now.

So she did the only thing that came to mind that would keep Sesshoumaru focused on staying him and not letting his beast loose. She jumped up, wrapped her arms around his neck, and kissed him. She figured that his beast would be confused by this and Sesshoumaru would be angry enough with her for daring to touch him that he would pin his beast down for a good long while. Plus since it worked for Inuyasha and his beast it might do the same for Sesshoumaru and his.

Oh how right she was.

Sesshoumaru's eyes returned to their hard gold color the second her lips landed on his. He jerked her away from his person and stared down at her.

Kagome blushed and giggled while looking down not wanting to see the disgust in his amber depths. "I guess it worked."

"Indeed." He said blandly and plucked her up.

"What?" She gasped and wrapped her arms tightly around him when they lifted off the ground.

His beast was acting up still angry with the girl and her inability to submit like a proper bitch should. It still wanted to dominate her fighting to be released so that it could do just that. Sesshoumaru wanted no part of it he had to be rid of her so he could pin the dog down and remind it who the true master really was. So he took off towards the well that she had told him was her doorway home.

The next thing Kagome knew was that she was standing with Sesshoumaru in front of the bone eaters well. Her brows drew deeply as she looked up at him. "What are we doing here?"

Sesshoumaru looked down at her trying to keep his beast under control; it knew what he was about to do and did not like it one bit. "You must go home. You will not return here for a least one full moon cycle."

Kagome tilted her head in question. "Why? And besides what is to stop Inuyasha from coming to get me and bring me back here?"

Sesshoumaru clenched his jaw at her question and at the mention of the worthless half-breed. "My beast wants to force you to submit and it will take some time for him to forget about you. As for the hanyou mutt I will take care of him myself."

Kagome put a hand on his arm, while she looked up at him pleadingly. "You won't kill him will you?"

He arched a brow highly at her. "You still care for him though he doubted your integrity?"

Kagome sighed tiredly and dropped her head sadly. "Yes I do."

He picked her up and held her over the well. "Miko you are a fool." With that he released his hold upon her and let her fall into the dark depths of the well.

Sesshoumaru watched as the blue light engulfed the girl in silent amazement. It was cut short however as his angered beast began another battle for dominance. It. Sesshoumaru shot into the forest away from the village that the girl called a second home so that he wouldn't end up harming an innocent during the battle that was about to ensue.

As the trees flew by in a blur, the edges of his eyes began to bleed red as his beast tried to break free from its constraints.

xx

Kagome sat at the bottom of the well with two things on her mind. Why didn't Inuyasha destroy the well like he said he was going to and the enigma that is Sesshoumaru and his beast?

Sesshoumaru had said that she shouldn't return for one full moon cycle which gave her a month or so to solve the mystery of how they could be two but one. Besides with school being out she had nothing better to do anyway. Now she only had to worry about whether or not Inuyasha would destroy the well before she could go back. Then again if he hadn't destroyed it by now maybe he wouldn't destroy it at all.

Well she would just hold out hope and go to work on her big project regarding Sesshoumaru and his mysterious beast. She got to her feet excited about her new project and slowly climbed out of the well being careful of her injuries and headed to the house. Once she was inside she was shocked to see Inuyasha sitting in her kitchen as if he lived there. "What are you doing here?" She snapped at him.

Inuyasha hung his head in shame knowing that he was in the wrong and she didn't deserve what he had done to her but he would never say that aloud. "I'm here to take you back."

Kagome just stood there glaring at the hanyou then crossed her arms over her chest. "I'm not going back. I'm still mad at you!"

Inuyasha started to pout. Couldn't she tell that he was sorry for what he had done? "Come on Kagome we still need you."

Kagome shook her head in disgust. "Yea as a shard detector. Besides I'm sure your precious Kikyo will have no problem being your new shard detector. Not to mention the added benefits of you hovering all over her like a love sick puppy."

Inuyasha could feel the guilt eating up his spine. Yes he deserved the way she was treating him knowing how he had treated her since Kikyo's revival. "Look Kagome I'm… well, I'm…"

Kagome knew what he was trying to say and usually she would fill it in for him but not this time. "Yes Inuyasha? You're what?" She stared at him expectantly.

He knew that she wasn't going to let him out of it this time. She was going to make him say the one thing he had the hardest time saying to anyone. "I'm sorry." He sighed like a giant weight was just lifted off his chest.

Kagome couldn't believe he had actually said it and the way he said it meant that he actually was sorry. She let off a defeated sigh. "Don't worry about it Inuyasha I just wish you would listen before you jump to conclusions. Although that would be expecting to much out of you."

He completely ignored her and jumped up happy and ready to go. "Great, let's go." He latched onto her wrist and began to drag her towards the front door once again ignoring what she was saying. He got his forgiveness now everything would return to normal. Sango would stop yelling at him. Miroku wouldn't lecture him about friendship anymore. Shippou would quit that annoying blubbering he was doing and Kiara would let him sleep an entire night without attacking him like he was her personal scratching post.

"Inuyasha I can't." She wrenched her wrist from his grip.

Inuyasha turned to her beginning to get angry. "And why the hell not?"

Kagome was ready for this confrontation and with Sesshoumaru's beast wanting to kill her she wasn't about to go back. "Because for one I am injured and two if I go back now Sesshoumaru will kill me."

Inuyasha glared at her knowing full well she was lying and just wanted to make him suffer more. "Feh you're not injured and Sesshoumaru won't be able to kill you. I won't let him."

"Inuyasha did you take a knock to the head or is you nose not working properly?"

Inuyasha drew his brows deeply in confusion, gave a quick sniff around her, and found that two things were different about her. One was that she was definitely injured and two she smelled very strongly of his brother. Which of course brought forth his full fury. "What the hell did he do to you? I will kill the bastard!"

Kagome shook her head in frustration. "Inuyasha calm down!" She put her fists onto her hips and readied herself to give the hanyou a thorough tongue-lashing. "First off it's your fault that I am injured! If you hadn't left me alone in the forest like you did I wouldn't have encountered Sesshoumaru's beast and it wouldn't have attacked me. Secondly; he is the one that has been treating my injuries and he is also the one who brought me home and told me not to come back for a full moon cycle. Finally; as much as we both hate to admit it he has been taking it easy on you all this time and if he really wanted to he could kill you so you don't have a chance in killing him!"

Inuyasha stepped away from the irate girl confused, shocked and hurt.

"Look Inuyasha," She let out a calming sigh. "I don't mean to be this way with you but sometimes it's the only way I can get through to you. Please let me just stay home and heal and then I will come back. Ok?" She threw her arms around his waist.

The second her arms and warmth enveloped him he was defeated; like he always was when it came to her. "Fine Kagome I'll go but I'll be back to get you."

Kagome smiled into his chest. "Thank you Inuyasha." She whispered as he pulled away, left the house, and headed back to the well.

Kagome watched him go then turned to go to her room. She had a project to work on and she couldn't wait to get it started.

xx

Kagome sat down in front of her computer to begin her study into how Sesshoumaru and his beast were able to coincide with one another being two separate entities yet always one living thing. As she sat there thinking about the whole issue she realized one thing; that this was going to be a lot harder than she thought it would be. "Well, I suppose I should start out with what I know and go from there." She nodded to herself determinedly and typed up an outline of what she knew about Sesshoumaru and his beast.

**Part One: What I know about Sesshoumaru**

**1. He is mostly calm and collected.**

**2. He hardly shows any emotions.**

**3. He has an ambition for strength and believes that struggle is the only way to obtain it.**

**4. He is a very proud warrior and ruler.**

**5. He maintains a dislike for humans but saved me and has a young ward that is also a human.**

**6. He seems to be very intelligent when it comes to battles and knowledge of the world.**

**7. He claims to hate Inuyasha and wants his death; but he never uses his true strength against Inuyasha.**

**Part Two: What I know about Sesshoumaru's beast**

**1. It has single-minded thoughts.**

**2. It desires to take control from Sesshoumaru.**

**3. It wants to be the alpha over all living things.**

**4. It is a dog that carries with it all dog traits but also has a very high intelligence. (For a dog.)**

"Wow; I don't know very much about his beast. This may be a lot harder than I thought it would be." She sighed to herself. "Oh well; if I keep working at it maybe it will all come together. Hmm I wonder though. Is there a way I can hide my scent so that I can go back and observe him when he is in demon form? I'll have to work on that one later." With that she continued on with her project.

**Part Three: Common traits between the two**

**1. Both use poison as a weapon.**

**2. Both are very powerful in battle.**

**3. Both have a fluffy on their shoulder. (Hehe!) What is it though?**

**4. Both look down upon those they think as being beneath them.**

**5. Both demand submissiveness.**

"Ok, that's all I can come up with for right now. I think that maybe I should take a trip to the library and do some research into the myths of Sengoku Jidai and the demons of that time. If only the researchers knew that what they called myth was actually true for that time." Kagome printed out her outline to take with her and then went to take a shower before retiring to bed for some much-needed sleep.


	3. Chapter 3

I'd like to say thanks for the reviews and the support and I hope you continue to enjoy! Much love for you all. Keva

Oh and the next chapter will be up Friday so I'll see ya five days from now! Whoot!

xx

The next day Kagome sat at a table in the library with a stack of books in front of her. She had arrived as soon as the library had opened so she could begin her research. She was flipping through what seemed to be her hundredth book looking for anything regarding how demons of myth dealt with being able to live with two forms. "You would think there would be something in here about it." She whispered fiercely to the book.

She slammed the book down earning her a glare from the librarian. She gave an apologetic chuckle and picked up the next book in her stack. As she was scanning through it she found what she had been looking for. The book was called _'Myths In Fiction'_. The author was unknown but that didn't matter. She began reading the chapter regarding demons and their beasts.

* * *

><p><em>Demons from the Sengoku era usually had two forms to them. One form was that of a human and the other was their true demon form. Theories regarding how the two forms were able to contain each other have been debated on by mythical writers for years.<em>

_Some of the theories say that the true demon form didn't exist within the human form; that the beast existed outside the body and was called forth when needed. Others say that the human and demon were one in the same and transformed its body into its alternate form. The final theory says that the human form and the demon form were two separate beings within one existence._

_This final theory is the most confusing to writers; so it is rarely used when fiction of this era is written._

After that, it went into the way of life of a demon. "That's it? It only gave the theories without a deeper explanation to their stupid theories!" Kagome hissed at the book. She scanned the page and noticed something that she missed at the bottom.

_For more information regarding the coexistence of demons and their forms; refer to section 5, chapter 26 subsection 15_.

* * *

><p>Kagome glared at the book. "Why can't the stupid writers of these things put all the information in one place? Kami forbid for them to make things easier on you by putting all the information that goes together in one chapter! But noooo; in order to find something you have to go to section whatever, chapter who gives a crap, followed by subsection throw the stupid book in the trash and forget it, just to find the information you're looking for!" She saw the librarian giving her the shut up or get out look again and gave the prissy woman a glare that would have made Sesshoumaru proud. She turned back to the book and began the search through all the sections, chapters, and subsections in order to continue her research.<p>

When she made it to the section that she was searching for she let out an audible sigh of disgust. At the very top of the page it said. Continued from section 2, chapter 6, subsection 15."Stupid book!" She snapped and without turning her head to the woman behind the counter responded to the glare she knew she was giving her. "What's the problem? I'm the only one here for crying out loud!"

The woman glared harder at her. "Young lady; you may be the only one in here but this is still a library and you will act accordingly or leave."

Kagome turned to the woman and using her best Inuyasha imitation Feh'd at her then turned her attention back to the infuriating book. She scanned down to the part regarding demons being one but two.

* * *

><p><em>Those who think that the demons of myth from the Sengoku era contained within them separate entities of their demon and their human forms feel that two souls were put together during the demons creation. Writers of myth think that when the demon was created they were given two souls in order to make them more powerful against their enemies. Being that their enemies were usually their own kind or other similar demons.<em>

_To understand the theory of two souls in one body is quite complicated. It may be up to the writer to come to their own conclusions on how the coexistence of the two sides of one demon are able to coexist. However, if you find it difficult to come to a conclusion, the following contains some questions you can ask yourself in order to help you come to an understanding of what it is you are trying to write about._

_You have to look at this issue from a different perspective. Imagine yourself having another being within your body. How would you live with the entity in yourself from day to day? What kind of choices would you make in order to maintain a balanced life with the entity inside you? Would you let yourself be at war with it, or would you seek harmony and happiness with it?_

_These are just a few of the questions that you would have to ask yourself in order to make a mythical fiction seem more real to your readers. Try to live a day as if you had another being within you and see how you would live your life._

* * *

><p>Kagome looked at the book and found that the questions it asked her made things a little more clear but she needed more information. She put the book down and decided that she needed to observe Sesshoumaru in action without him knowing of course; but how? She decided that a secret trip to visit Kaede to find out how she could hide herself completely was in order. She got up and left leaving all her books piled up on the table figuring that the snooty librarian needed something to do other than look down her nose at everyone.<p>

xx

Kagome climbed out of the well and kicked her foot a little too hard against the side. "Ouch damn it!" She hissed while hopping on one foot and holding her abused other foot.

It turned out that there was no way for her too completely hide herself in order to monitor the demon lord. This only severed to fuel her frustrations in trying to understand Sesshoumaru and his beast. She needed to talk to a full demon and find out what their interpretation of being two parts living as one was.

Shippou couldn't give her an answer other than a shrug of his shoulder being he was too young to understand it himself. Inuyasha was no help he just told her that he never talked with his demon nor did he ever see it inside him. He just knew it was there and existed because he could feel it being there.

She asked Sango since she was an expert on demons and even she didn't understand it. That left her with two demons that could answer her questions. The one that brought forth this need to understand the correlation between the animal and human part of a demon and Koga.

In other words; she had no one she could question about this subject. Therefore, she made an executive decision and he wasn't going to like it; not one bit.

xx

The day finally came when she could return to Sengoku Jidai hopefully without any harm coming from Sesshoumaru's beast. She had a plan in order to understand Sesshoumaru and his beast and he wasn't going to stop her. She climbed out the well and instead of heading to the village where she should of she headed west. She was hunting a daiyōkai and nothing would stand in her way.

When she made her decision to monitor Sesshoumaru she took what she hoped was every possible thing into consideration. She packed her bag with all the necessities, food, clothing, weapons, a notebook, dog toys, dog treats, canned dog food, and a camcorder. She wanted to catch Sesshoumaru changing into his demon dog form on film so that she could analyze it and see the complexities of the change in slow motion. She figured out a way to keep him from realizing that she was near by and the thought of what she had to do grossed her out to no end but she would do it. In the name of research sacrifices had to be made; she just hoped the results would be worth the sacrifice.

It was simple really but the plan did have one major hitch to it Koga. His lands were within the western realm which meant that the wolf tribe had rights to travel and hunt in Sesshoumaru's territory. She found out from a vet that it takes three days for a new member of a pack to be fully scented with its new pack's scent. Sadly the vet also told her that if a pack member leaves the pack that the packs scent would only linger for three days.

Ok so she would have to spend three days fighting off Koga just so she could pick up his packs scent, giving her three days to find Sesshoumaru and monitor him. Yea right, it could take weeks to find him, and even longer to catch him transforming into his beast, but three days would have to do.

She doubted very much that she could tolerate Koga for three days but she would have to make due. She decided to tell him that she was there to take some time off shard hunting and since she didn't have school she figured she would spend some time with THEM. Not him! She found the river leading up to his mountain den and made the oh so very long trek up to her unwanted admirer.

xx

Three excruciating days later Kagome made her way down the side of the mountain headed towards Sesshoumaru's castle. She wasn't alone however and this just served to piss her off. She fought, argued, and prayed to every deity known to man that a bolt of lighting would strike the wolf prince turning him into nothing but a pile of ash.

At first, it was a battle over whether he would personally escort her back to Inuyasha. Then after many bruises to his shins and a lot of very, very not so lady like words he said he wouldn't go with her. Instead he would have members of his pack escort her back to _'the mutt'_. That brought on another round of kicking and string after string of obscenity she had ever heard and some she made up on the spot. However, the stubborn wolf refused to relent so she had no choice.

It was then she realized that she could use her escorts to her advantage. Why wander aimlessly looking for Sesshoumaru when you have two wolf demons with excellent canine abilities? Plus having them with her meant that their scent would linger on her until three days after she got rid of them. The trick was convincing them to help her hunt down Sesshoumaru. Well she didn't spend a week with a vet, a week with a dog trainer, and a week researching dogs, wolves, and wolf packs just for fun. She learned some very interesting things about canine behavior and she was going to use what she learned to get her fellow but temporary pack members to do as she bid them to do.

First off Koga made the mistake of announcing her as his _'future mate'_ giving her the alpha role when he wasn't around and knowing this this left her companions no room for argument when she ordered them to do something. Secondly; yes they may be part human in a way but they are still dogs and as dog demons they have the ability to change into true dog form. She came prepared for dealing with them if they insisted on preventing her from doing something she wanted to do. All she had to do was get them to turn into their true dog form and throw a couple of kongs filled with canned dog food and viola! She had two very busy dogs with the oh so tricky kongs and she was free. Finally, if that didn't work she had another plan.

Yet, what dog would refuse a kong filled with canned dog food? Well there was always the possibility that they might so in case there is a refusal of the kongs she brought with her several of the biggest juiciest dog bones that the pet store sold. Dog form or humanish form they wouldn't be able to refuse.

She did learn something while she was at Koga's however. When she questioned him about his inner demon it turned out that he shared the same problem as Inuyasha. He knows its there but doesn't interact with it as Sesshoumaru does. She figured that it must only be higher level youkai that have their demons separate from themselves yet live as one being.

xx

They traveled for two days towards Sesshoumaru's home through her trickery of the wolves of course. The kongs had worked out better than she had hoped they woul; after giving them the kongs the first time. A simple promise of getting them again if they did as she said made them stumble over themselves to do anything she asked of them.

If she was researching low level youkai and their beasts she would have concluded that low level youkai are just barely smarter then your everyday average house pets with the exception of being able to change into a human form. This however would not be the case for Sesshoumaru. She highly doubted that his dog beast was a dumb as a house pet because if it were Sesshoumaru would not be lord of the western lands and he wouldn't have to battle it for control.

They had finally made it to the outskirts of Sesshoumaru's castle; they could see it form their position of just inside the tree line. So now what? The first order of business she supposed was to find out if Sesshoumaru was home or not.

"Ginta, Hakkaku can you tell if Sesshoumaru is nearby?" The two wolves sniffed the air none to discretely and turned back to her.

"We can't tell, his scent is all over the place, but it's strongest towards the south." Ginta stared at her.

Hakkaku nodded his head in agreement. "That means he recently left."

Kagome looked at the two wolves waiting for them to tell her how long ago they figured he left and it was apparent that they weren't going to say anything further. "He recently left; ok we figured that by the fact that Ginta said his scent is strongest towards the south!" She growled.

Granted that her traveling companions kept her scent hidden but this just proved her theory that low level demon wolves are as smart as house pets. "Well are you going to tell me how recently or do I need to guess?"

Ginta tucked his head which Kagome figured was equivalent to a dog tucking it tail. "Sometime between yesterday afternoon and dawn this morning."

Kagome was excited she was somewhere between a day to several hours behind Sesshoumaru. Reaching into her bag she tossed each wolf a dog biscuit showing them she was proud of them or so they thought. The biscuits were something like an invisible leash so long as she had the yummy treats they would stay faithfully by her side.

Her two companions learned days ago not to question the woman about to her reasons for hunting down Sesshoumaru. It only took one turn with a shock collar to realize that she meant business when she told them to mind their own. Not only that she also found out that the shock collar hindered her companions ability to change back to their human form. Which added another question to her already filling notebook; would the same hold true for a demon like Sesshoumaru? Every time she would test something on her companions she would log it for comparison later against Sesshoumaru's beast.

They traveled quickly since they weren't that far behind the taiyoukai and Kagome's insistence that they find him by the next morning or else put speed to their feet. She was beyond elated when they found Sesshoumaru a few hours later. Now here was the problem; sure they made sure that they stayed down wind from him so that he couldn't scent them out but that wouldn't stop him from sensing their auras.

Kagome could suppress hers which she did but her companions were a different story. So what do you do when you have two companions who could easily be felt out by a demon lord? Why you use them as bait of course.

She turned to the wolves and explained what they were to do. "Ok I want you guys to go up wind to Sesshoumaru and keep his attention away from me. Don't worry he will just think that you guys are out hunting for your pack." She hoped inwardly but wasn't to concerned if Sesshoumaru decided to attack them. She had her ace in the hole to keep him from doing any harm to the wolves.

"What are you going to do?" Hakkaku asked the evilly grinning girl who was making him very nervous.

"Don't worry about me I'm just going to watch Sesshoumaru and see how he reacts to you two being within his vicinity." Oh and I might throw a kong filled with yummy doggie food at him. She thought wickedly. It took everything she had to keep from giggling at the vision of Sesshoumaru trying to get the dog food out of the kong.

"Now go." As the two wolves took off Kagome got her camcorder ready and her secret weapons ready for the inuyoukai in case the worst should happen. Which was going to happen knowing what she was about to do.

She grabbed her bow and an arrow that she had readied just before they left to follow the demon lord. She covered it with blood from the deer the two wolves killed for dinner the night before. She then pulled out a can of dog food and dipped the arrow into the mushy stuff. She readied it and fired it far off to the opposite side of Sesshoumaru but parallel to the direction that she told her companions to go. She picked her camcorder and readied it to record how he would react to the strange smell of the blood and dog food on one side of him and her companions on the other.

Her theory was that he would think that Ginta and Hakkaku were trying to distract him with the strange scent of the arrow so that they could attack him. That's not why she did it though she wanted to see if his beast would want to chase after the arrow while Sesshoumaru wanted to go after the two intruders.

Her whole body twitched with anticipation to find out what the demon lord would do. She could see the struggle in his eyes through the lens of her video camera; she was right. There was an internal battle going on inside the youkai and at the moment they were evenly matched against each other. She hoped that his beast's curiosity would win out over the lord's hold on him; but it didn't. Sesshoumaru won out against his beast and took off towards Ginta and Hakkaku.

Kagome was prepared for this turn of events she put a little gold tube up to her lips and blew on it. No sound that she could hear came from it however she knew it wasn't broken.

She then stood up, gathered her stuff, and took off into the woods as fast as her feet could carry her. What she had just done was going to end bad if she was caught. So she left the open can of dog food behind as something akin to a treat and an apology. She circled back around trying to keep down wind and readied her camcorder once again.

When she made it to a spot where she could see the spot she was just occupying she was overjoyed. Sure enough Sesshoumaru was now standing in that exact spot blank faced but eyes that screamed of bloody murder.

Ok now she knew how Sesshoumaru would react to a dog whistle he was not happy better yet he was furious; as told from the narrowing of his eyes. What intrigued her the most was that he didn't move from that spot to hunt down the one who tortured his ears he was just staring at the can of dog food.

Kagome watched through the lens as Sesshoumaru's eyes went from rage to a realization that made her nervous. She was hoping that his beast would try to break free in order to have at the tasty treat that was sitting at his feet. That wasn't the case however; instead he turned and walked off like he didn't care about what had just happened, but she knew better. He was baiting her or who ever he thought placed the can there. He wasn't leaving he was going somewhere where he could watch and see who would come and pick the can up.

Kagome was prepared for this if you want to catch a demon you have to think like one especially one like Sesshoumaru.

She pulled out her notebook and began writing her observations down. This attempt at bringing out Sesshoumaru's demon had failed but she wasn't deterred. She had plenty more ideas and couldn't wait to try them out on the inuyoukai. She just hoped that she would survive her tests being that Sesshoumaru's beast just as Sesshoumaru himself could be very unpredictable.


	4. Chapter 4

I know I said I wasn't going to give you all another update till friday BUT in honor of mah birthday I will grant you all a gift in the form of the next chappy. Hope you all enjoy! Much love for you all. Keva

xx

Kagome sat at the base of a tree watching Ginta and Hakkaku licking their wounds. They had made the mistake of retrieving the dog food that she had left behind. Not knowing that what was once her trap now became Sesshoumaru's trap and they fell right into it.

The confrontation between the three canines gave her another look into a dog's behavior. Although Koga is Ginta and Hakkaku's pack leader by the mere fact that Koga's pack resides on Sesshoumaru's lands means that Sesshoumaru is really the alpha and Koga is the beta of sorts or so she figured. This was something that the vet and dog trainer failed to inform her of unless this behavior only pertains to these dogs because of the demon blood in them. This was something she was going to have to look into when she got home.

She pulled out her notebook since they were going to be there for awhile while her companions nursed their wounds. She drafted up another outline with all the information she had to date regarding canine behavior.

**Part Four: Similarities Between Demon Dogs and Domesticated Dogs **

**1. ****The mighty kong filled with canned food rules all.**

**2. ****Dog biscuits maintain loyalty.**

**3. ****Shock collars really do keep them quiet.**

**4. ****Dog whistles work on ALL dogs. (Sesshoumaru is proof of that. If he comes to one any canine will.)**

**5. ****An intended female mate to the alpha holds the same power as a true mate.**

**6. ****Dogs in trouble or afraid will always tuck their tails.**

**7. ****A threat to one's territory takes precedence over food.**

So far most of the above didn't include Sesshoumaru yet. She had to get him to turn into his beast form and see it in action to get a full understanding of its behavior. Only twice in her life had she seen Sesshoumaru in his beast form and both times she was too distracted with staying alive to pay much attention to it in action. Well, she was going to change all that.

She did wonder though if after the confrontation with Sesshoumaru if Ginta and Hakkaku would want to return to their pack for the support that she couldn't give. If they did that was fine they already supplied her with enough information about wolf behavior. As much as wolf behavior mirrored domesticated dog behavior there were still many differences between the two.

For example, wolves always want to be in a pack where average dogs don't. Knowing this she needed to get back to Inuyasha and monitor a solitary dog and put him to the test against the same things she used on Ginta and Hakkaku but first she had to go home for three days.

xx

After three days at home and a visit to her local dog experts she was ready to head back. She wasn't too surprised to find that Inuyasha had been there looking for her which began her research into solitary dog behavior. Although Inuyasha and Sesshoumaru both had traveling companions that they considered their pack they were still labeled by canine society as solitary creatures. After her talks with her experts another outline was made.

**Part Five: Solitary Dog Behavior**

**1. ****Solitary dogs are known to be destructive.**

**2. ****Solitary dogs are known to be withdrawn.**

**3. ****Solitary dogs are known to shy away from others.**

**4. ****Solitary dogs are known not to remain loyal to temporary or mixed packs.**

**5. ****Solitary dogs are known to have unhealthy obsessions with objects in order to fill some kind of void.**

**6. ****Solitary dogs are known to be very temperamental.**

Knowing what she learned about solitary dog behavior explained a lot about Sesshoumaru and Inuyasha. They both had a lot of traits that fell into this category as well as traits comparable to each other. She decided to document Inuyasha's solitary traits between behavioral tests on him then do the same to Sesshoumaru.

xx

"I don't want to hear it Inuyasha!" Kagome glared at the irate hanyou. "It doesn't matter how long it took me to get back. The fact of the matter is I'm back now and no amount of arguing with me is going to change the fact that I have been missing for the last two weeks!" She closed her eyes and shook her head knowing what the next thing out of his mouth was going to be and beat him to it. "Where I've been doesn't matter either."

"Feh, fine lets just go." Inuyasha stomped off down the road leading out of the village.

Kagome pulled out her notebook and jotted Inuyasha's fist solitary dog behavior down. Not that she really needed to monitor him as a solitary dog she had spent so much time with him that she knew every little tic the boy had. So, she began to jot them all down saving her from having to do it later. This way she would have more time to observe Inuyasha dealing with all the little _toys_ that she had brought back with her.

She got her first chance that night when the group had stopped for the night. When she went to the hot spring she took a kong and a can of dog food with her in order to prepare it without his knowledge. As she made her way back she dropped the kong just on the outskirts of the camp. She then walked over to her bag, grabbed her notebook, and readied herself to take notes on how Inuyasha would deal with the kong.

In order to keep Shippou from interfering she filled him with suckers and chocolates. She didn't know how a fox would deal with such things and she wasn't ready to start working on the varying difference between breeds of dogs yet.

She didn't have to wait long for Inuyasha to catch a whiff of the dog food and find the tricky kong. She watched as he picked it up, sniffed at it, and wondered at just what the object was and how it managed to make its way into the bushes.

"Hey Kagome! What's this?" He held it up for her to see.

Kagome looked at the thing like it was the first time she had ever seen anything like it and shrugged her shoulders in an I don't know fashion.

Inuyasha turned his attention back to the red thing in his hand and began to sniff at it again. His silver brows drew deeply as he tried to work out what the thing was and if it was a threat or not. Though how could something that smelled so good be a threat?

Kagome watched with hidden excitement as he licked at the hole tasting the food. Then once he realized that he liked what was inside the red rubber thing he attacked it with a fervor like she had never seen out of the hanyou before. Well, except for when it came to hunting for jewel shards or ramen after not having any for a few months.

She wrote down what she saw and was amazed that just like Ginta and Hakkaku he didn't use his fingers to get the food out. Again, another point that lower youkai/hanyou were no smarter then domesticated house pets. Most likely the issue was that their base animal instincts kicked in nulling out their common humanish sense or in Inuyasha's case human sense.

Would Sesshoumaru react the same way or would he realize that he could use his fingers to get what was on the inside outside? She would find out soon enough but first she wanted to monitor Inuyasha as a solitary canine.

xx

The next night she ran another test just how loyal would Inuyasha become just to have a dog biscuit?

"Hey Inuyasha come her for a sec would ya?" She hollered up to the hanyou parked in a tree.

Inuyasha jumped down landing right in front of her. "What?"

Kagome held up the dog biscuit in front of him. "Here I got these cookies just for you."

Inuyasha eyed the bone shaped cookie wearily. Something about the cookie just didn't seem right. "What is it?"

Kagome ran it under his nose so that he could get a good whiff of it. "It's a cookie; just for you and no one else."

Inuyasha took the _'cookie'_ and ate it in one quick bite only a little worried there might be something wrong with it.

Kagome instantly saw in his eyes that he was hooked and he confirmed it with his next question.

"Ya got any more of them cookies?"

Kagome gave a giggle. "That's it for now."

Inuyasha huffed then pouted. "Just one more please."

"No Inuyasha that's it for today. If you're a good boy I will give you another one in the morning." She turned, went to her bag, grabbed the biscuits, and took them to bed with her. Inuyasha was hooked faster and worse than Ginta and Hakkaku and couldn't be trusted.

She crawled into her sleeping bag cuddling the dog biscuits and Shippou and then proceeded to wait. She had spotted one of Kikyo's soul stealers earlier in the day meaning the woman wanted Inuyasha to come to her so she could try to again poison his mind.

However; she was going to intercept him or at least distract him before he could go. It wasn't long until she saw him through her squinted eyes preparing to leave. Seeing which direction his nose began to sniff in she discreetly tossed another kong in that same general direction.

Ok, now Inuyasha had a problem run to the thing he had an unhealthy obsession with or take the kong. When she saw that he wasn't moving for either she grinned. He was confused as to which one he wanted more and she wasn't too shocked at the decision he finally made.

He picked up the kong on his way to his obsession. This confirmed her suspicions about what a dog would do when there were two things that he wanted and neither were worth letting go. Take the one that's most portable to the one that isn't.

She sat up and pictured Kikiyo trying to deal with Inuyasha while he was focused on his toy filled with the brown mushy dog food. She couldn't hold in the laughter bubbling up in her at the vision of Kikiyo trying to love all over Inuyasha while he was licking at the food inside the kong.

"And what do you find to be so amusing." The question which was little more than a demand came from right behind and above her.

Her eyes widened hugely in shock had she been caught playing with Inuyasha's inner canine? She prayed to all the Kami above that she hadn't.

She slowly turned her head to face the intruder who may or may not have seen what she had just done to Inuyasha and schooled her features before she looked up at him. She had to find out if he was witness to her little test and if so she had to be ready intellectually for the confrontation.

"Oh, nothing really. I just had a funny vision in my head about Inuyasha." Locking her eyes with his she waited to find out what he knew and why he was there.

He stared down his nose at her suspiciously.

"So Sesshoumaru what are you doing here?" It was quite obvious that she had to ask since he was making no move to tell her.

Kagome watched as he pulled something that looked a lot like the cans of dog food she carried around with her out of his haori. Instantly she knew where this was going and she had to make sure that when he questioned her about it that she chose her words very wisely. He could not find out that she was trying to extract his beast out of him so that she could study it.

"I believe miko that this is yours." He held it out for her to see clearly.

She tried to look as innocent and guilty as possible knowing that she couldn't deny it and nodded at him. She reached her hand out to take it from him but he jerked it back. "How did you know it was mine?"

Sesshoumaru snorted at her as if she was daft. "Where else would something as strange as this container come from."

She then realized that that was something that should have crossed her mind when she left it behind but it didn't and now she had to explain. What the youkai didn't know was that during the time she had spent with him and with the interactions they had he had taught her how to use her words to her own benefit. Never mind that a certain neko taught her how to pick and choose her words so a lie could be told through vague truths.

"Oh" She answered as if it was of no importance. She also set her mind ready to memorize this entire encounter for documentation later because she was going to use his own curiosity against him.

His next question she was ready for and already had an answer for him. "What were you doing with this." He demanded as held it out in front of her face again so that she would know what he was talking about; as if she didn't already.

Knowing that Sesshoumaru can sniff out deceit she would have to tell the truth without telling the truth as Kei so kindly taught her to do. "I was using it to monitor demon dog behavior." Which was a 100% true.

Sesshoumaru narrowed his eyes upon her trying to discern if what she said had another meaning to it and put the question that would tell him if it did. "What dog were you monitoring?"

Ok now that question should have backed her into a corner forcing her to admit what dog she was monitoring but she had to avoid him finding out at all costs. Well, all costs except for death that is. So she gave him an answer that was true, but vague. "Whatever dog happened to be in the area at the time." This was also true being her behavioral test included Ginta and Hakkaku in a way.

_'Ha take that!'_ She thought smugly to herself as she watched him trying to sort out her answer.

He didn't know if she was telling the truth or not being he wasn't the only dog demon in the area at the time. "Miko how is it I could not sense that you were there"

This question was going to lead into a lot more complicated questions that were going to be even harder to answer. "I stayed down wind from the area and suppressed my aura."

He again gave her the look that said there is something you're not telling me and continued his questioning of her. "Why did I not pick up your scent anywhere."

Kagome knew that that question or demand or whatever it was was coming and for the life of her she couldn't find a reasonable answer for it.

If she told him that she had been with the wolves he would know that she was monitoring him and not just any random dog. She was also dead set against telling him the truth she had spent way too much time researching canine behavior just to throw it all away because of one question.


	5. Chapter 5

This is one of my favorite parts of the story thus far... Yasha makes the perfect test subject! Hehe love it!

xx

What she really needed right now was a good distraction but knew that her wish wasn't going to come true. As she was going through her _'I'm about to be caught panic'_ the Kami smiled upon her and gave her something of an answer to his question. "Well you see because my scent is so distinguishable I covered my scent with the scent of the wolf tribe so that I wouldn't be caught monitoring them." Again that was true without being true.

His deep ambers narrowed even further upon her. He now knew for certain she was lying. "Why would you use their scent to monitor them. If you had their scent on you that means that you were with the wolf tribe."

Kagome was beginning to get a headache trying to keep her lying so to speak up. He again asked a question that was near next to impossible to answer without being caught. "They were there to help me test how a dog's sense of smell worked and to see if there were any other dogs in the area." Ok now that was mostly a lie but she hoped that it held enough truth to it to cover the lie up.

"Miko you will not lie to this Sesshoumaru." He growled getting quite annoyed with all of this.

She was disappointed that he caught her so instead of trying to reanswer his question she did what any smart female would do. Turn all this into his fault. "If you would have just left the wolves alone and let them do their thing you wouldn't be here questioning me right now."

This is where she hoped his male ego would override his sense of curiosity and was more than pleased when it did.

"Miko you will not make such accusations against this Sesshoumaru. Everything that occurs on my lands no matter how insignificant involves me."

Now that she had him distracted from the whole dog food thing it was time to gather some information and in true female form she changed the subject again. "So did you finally get your beast under control?"

Sesshoumaru wanted so bad to pinch the bridge of his nose or punch her in hers to rid himself of the throb that was beginning to build up in his forehead. The woman was confusing and infuriating and he was having a hard time keeping up with her. "My beast is of no importance right now."

Kagome wasn't going to be deterred she continued on as if he hadn't said anything. "Well you must have seeing as how I am sitting right here in front of you and he hasn't tried to get free to attack me." She looked up at him giving him her best I am so innocent look. "Did he forget about me?"

Sesshoumaru glared down at the girl was she deliberately trying to remind his beast of who she was? "No more questions about my beast. He is…"

For the first time ever Inuyasha showed up earlier than she had expected and interrupted Sesshoumaru. This in effect pissed her off being she was about to get Sesshoumaru to explain what was going on with his beast.

Although Inuyasha's interruption could prove to be useful as well. Now she could observe two solitary canines and how they interact with each other and what made it more interesting was that they were no longer in the western lands. This meant that there was no territory to be considered as owned by either one of them. Kagome slowly crept over to her backpack and tried to secretly record this interaction between the two brothers for future examination.

Both of them bared their fangs at the other and a low grumbling sound covered the campsite. "What the hell are you doing here?" Inuyasha shouted at Sesshoumaru waking the whole camp site.

"Mind your own half-breed." Sesshoumaru gave Inuyasha his golden stare down.

Inuyasha unsheathed the tessaiga and leapt at his stupid ass hole of an elder brother.

Sesshoumaru countered every attack Inuyasha threw at him only serving to aggravate Inuyasha further. Now normally Kagome would put a stop to this but she wanted to see this battle play out to the end and besides she would stop it if it got to the point where someone's life was at stake.

What she found most interesting about the confrontation was that this battle wasn't nearly as intense as when the two brothers confronted each other in the western lands. She figured it was because for Sesshoumaru this wasn't his territory and Inuyasha posed no real threat in taking what Sesshoumaru considered to be his. This made her wonder; was there another canine pack out there that this part of the land belonged to? If so did they know that Inuyasha and Sesshoumaru were trespassing on their territory? This probably explained why Inuyasha was so much more edgy when they traveled outside what he considered _his_ domain.

She found the conclusion to the battle between the brothers to be rather strange. Maybe it was because they were trespassing on another's territory or maybe neither posed no real threat to the other. However, the fact that they both just stopped fighting each other didn't fit their profiles. Then again they didn't often cross paths outside the western lands so how could she say if this happened before or not.

She watched as Inuyasha sheathed his sword and turned his back to his brother with his ears plastered against his head. "We'll finish this later." He growled low in his throat.

Sesshoumaru also turned his back on Inuyasha and slowly walked out of their camp eyeing Kagome on his way out.

She quickly hid her camera so that he wouldn't see what she was doing and gave him a large smile. When he was gone she turned to Inuyasha. "What happened? Usually when you guys fight I have to interfere to keep you two from killing each other."

Inuyasha tucked his head touching his chin to his chest and gave her a quiet _'feh'_.

That little display made her remember something from her outline, part four, number 6 (ugh, section, blah blah blah!): _A dog in trouble or afraid will always tuck its tail._ Since Inuyasha didn't have a tail a tuck of the head is equivalent to a tucked tail. From what she learned about dog behavior not only do dogs tuck their tail when afraid or in trouble, they tuck their head, flatten their ears, and sometimes hold their mouths open. Inuyasha was displaying two of the four things and she was sure that if he had a tail it would have been three of four.

Then there was Sesshoumaru's behavior. He didn't display any of the same signs that Inuyasha did but they both turned their backs on the other. This behavior indicated that neither was worth the others time nor were they posing a threat to the other. This made Kagome think that who's ever territory they were on the owners were nearby and Inuyasha confirmed this.

"Pack up we're leaving." He growled with more edge than was perhaps necessary.

Kagome was going to find out if her suspicions were correct. "Why Inuyasha? What's going on?"

Inuyasha turned to her and confirmed that the territory's pack was nearby. "Something is coming this way."

Ok that wasn't as specific as she wanted it to be but it was close enough. Once they packed camp up Inuyasha led them back south towards the western lands which proved that she was right. They were definitely trespassing and wore out their welcome.

As they were traveling back to the western lands she noticed that they were also going to be going past Inuyasha's forest just outside the western edges. "Hey Inuyasha can we stop by the village? I need to go home for a couple of hours."

Inuyasha shook his head. "No."

Kagome bit her bottom lip in anticipation she didn't really need to go home this was just another test. She reached into her bag and pulled out two dog biscuits, kept one in her hand, and pocketed the other just in case one didn't work. She skipped up to Inuyasha and began to walk next to him. "Can I go if I give you one of these?" She then held out the biscuit in front of him.

She could see Inuyasha's brain working furiously over whether or not to give into the pull of the _'cookie'_. She thought for sure he was going to go for it but after a hard fought internal battle he didn't. She watched as he yanked his eyes from the cookie and looked off to the side. "Ok Inuyasha." She dug into her pocket and pulled out the second one. "How about two cookies for me to go home for a couple of hours."

From the gleam in his eyes, she had him. He reached his hand out to take them from her, and she pulled them away.

"Hey you said I could have them." He bit out frustrated and rather pouty like.

Kagome handed him one and said. "One for now and you can have the other when we get to the well and maybe just maybe if your nice for the rest of the day I will give you a third." She could see the joy building up in his eyes at the thought of getting three of the wonderful cookies all in one day.

By the time they made it to the well Kagome was beyond annoyed. Every five minuets Inuyasha would ask her if she was really going to give him another cookie when they got to the well. Just for this behavior there was no way in hell he was going to get the third cookie. He would get the second for letting her go like he promised but there was another part to his punishment besides being denied the third cookie.

She was going to go home and stay for a whole 24 hours. She wanted to talk to the animal trainer about how to deal with clingy persistent puppies who don't know when to quit and this would give her a chance to review the video of Inuyasha's and Sesshoumaru's fight. The way the fight ended was rather curious and she wanted to see if she could find at which point and who ended it.

xx

Kagome climbed out of the well and in a none to good of a mood. Inuyasha insisted that he come home with her to make her come back in a couple hours like she had promised. After about twenty sits he still wouldn't listen so she jumped into the well while he was face down in a five foot deep crater. She pulled a ofada that she had Miroku make for her so that she could seal the well to keep Inuyasha from coming through and slapped it on the well. She had a lot to do and she didn't need Inuyasha getting under her feet while she did it or for him to find out what she was doing.

First thing was first go and talk to the dog trainer about annoying clingy little puppies. So instead of going into the house she headed down the street to the dog trainer's. She had become really good friends with the trainer and the vet being she was either always coming to them to ask questions or calling them but this time it had to be a visit.

She needed figure out why Inuyasha always wanted to be with her and why it is such a battle to get away from him. She also had to find out what she could do to make it easier on him when she left somehow she knew that he wasn't to pleasant when she was gone.

Later that evening she sat in front of her computer logging in all the information she had gathered up to this point. The pet trainer informed her of what Inuyasha's problem was and she was shocked that she hadn't realized it earlier.

Inuyasha suffered from separation anxiety when she would leave increasing his stress factor. Plus considering how stressed he always was anyway it was a wonder he hadn't stressed himself to death yet.

Based on what the trainer said Inuyasha needed something of hers to be comforted with while she was gone and she had her mother working on it. The other part of dealing with Inuyasha's separation anxiety was going to be a little more complicated. As it turns out a dog can suffer separation anxiety after a very stressful change in their surroundings or from negative confrontations. Well every time she leaves to go home that is exactly what was happening to Inuyasha they fight and she leaves.

She dismissed Inuyasha and his problems since they were going to be a very easy fix and went back to working out Sesshoumaru and his beast. She watched the video of Inuyasha's and Sesshoumaru's fight and when she came to the end she noticed something that she hadn't noticed when she was watching the battle first hand.

Right before Sesshoumaru gave Inuyasha the final blow which wasn't really a blow more of a youkai slug. Both of them paused as if they heard something that nobody else could. It was then that Sesshoumaru caught Inuyasha by the nape of the neck and shook him. It wasn't hard enough to do any damage but enough to tell Inuyasha that that was enough.

What was even more interesting was that when Sesshoumaru was leaving he too had his head oh so very slightly tucked. If she wasn't analyzing it as she now was she would have never noticed it. This confirmed her suspicions that they were indeed trespassing on another's territory and had been informed of such. This explained why Inuyasha was in such a rush to leave. This gave her another idea in how to extract Sesshoumaru's beast.

She felt as if she was getting way off track with her research first with the wolves and now Inuyasha. However what she had gathered so far in reality would help to understand Sesshoumaru's beast once she extracts him.

In order to pull Sesshoumaru's beast out this time was going to take some serious help and more than what a vet, a trainer, or even books could do. It was time to call in a wild animal expert and the zoo was the best place to start. This was going to make her late in getting back to Inuyasha but what was another day after all? Nothing a kong, a dog biscuit or two, and the pillow that her mom was making for him out of one of her old shirts wouldn't fix.

xx

The guy at the zoo gave her a person to get a hold of in order to truly help her understand wild dog behavior for her research. She called the expert and scheduled an appointment to meet with him at the zoo the next afternoon. Between now and then, she compiled everything she had so far into a more reasonable form for her to understand. In other words no sections or subsections and so on and so forth.

Plus, she did a little online research about wild dogs, domesticated dogs, wolves, (as if she didn't have enough already) and coyotes. They all shared a lot of the same behavioral traits and quite a few different ones as well. She wondered which one Sesshoumaru's beast would fall under or would he share traits of all of them. Time would only tell.

The day with the wild dog expert at the zoo gave Kagome a lot of information regarding the various canine species. Sesshoumaru's beast had to be closely related to one of these and once she figured that out it would make it so much easier to pull his beast out.

**Part Six: Canine Species Sesshoumaru's Beast could be Related to:**

**1. ****Wolves**

**2. ****Coyotes**

**3. ****Foxes**

**4. ****Jackals**

All four of the species of dogs shared a lot of common traits and a lot more uncommon traits. There was only one way to find which species that Sesshoumaru's beast could most closely be linked to; she was going to have to monitor Sesshoumaru in his human form.

She knew that although Sesshoumaru and his beast were two separate beings living as one, Sesshoumaru in the human form had canine traits that could be studied. Now she needed a plan in order to spend some time with the taiyoukai **without** Inuyasha knowing. That was going to be another very tricky plan. Who knew that trying to understand Sesshoumaru's beast was going to be so involved?

Then again if she played her cards just right she would get to spend a lot more time with the inuyoukai and his drool worthyness. Plus she couldn't wait to see Kei again and see if he could help her figure out Sesshoumaru's beast. He was Sesshoumaru's closest friend after all and they did grow up together so if anyone knew about Sesshoumaru and his beast it would be him.

xx

She returned to Sengoku Jidai with an idea about how she was going to get with Sesshoumaru so that she could watch him. First she had to take care of Inuyasha and she had another idea on how to do that.

"Hey Inuyasha." She walked up to the irate hanyou all ready for his rage and all ready to bring it to a grinding halt.

"Where the hell have you been? You said a couple of hours and it's been two days!" He pointed a finger in her face and then became very nervous by the wicked smile she was giving him.

"Don't be so upset Inuyasha I brought you back a gift." She handed him a box that contained the pillow made from her old shirt, a baggie full of _'cookies'_, a big bone, some ramen, and a kong filled with food. She hoped that he wouldn't link her to the mysterious kongs of the forest. Those ones were red and shaped a little different than the blue one in the box.

Inuyasha sorted through the box of goodies confused about which one he wanted first. He picked the pillow up and looked at it suspiciously. "Oi woman what's this for?"

Kagome gave him a sly grin. "My mom made it for you from one of my old shirts; sniff it." She watched in joy as he held it up to his nose and gave it a good sniff then tucked it under his arm. That action told her that he wasn't going to let it leave his person well except for when she would have to take it in order to rescent it with her scent.

Now it was time to really put the pillow and treats to the test. "I will see you later Inuyasha."

Inuyasha looked at her with half a biscuit hanging out of his mouth. "Where are you going?"

"I have to go back home. My mom and gramps are going out of town for two weeks and I have to stay home and watch Sota while they're gone."

Inuyasha furrowed his brows deeply. "Two weeks?"

Kagome nodded at him. "Yep two weeks." She walked out of the hut and was thoroughly surprised when he didn't come after her yelling and screaming like he usually did.

She looked back in at him and could see the confusion written all over his face as if there was something that he should be doing right now but couldn't figure out what. Then her joy reached new heights when he took his new pillow, gave it a good sniff, and went back to his cookies.

Separation anxiety problem solved!

Now that she had Inuyasha under control it was time to go after Sesshoumaru. She headed back to the well grabbed the stuff she stashed for her journey and headed off towards Sesshoumaru's. She had no intention of walking all the way to Sesshoumaru's she was going to bring the mighty taiyoukai to her… she hoped.

She walked until she felt that she was WELL out of Inuyasha's range of hearing and readied her call to attract the world's biggest dog. This one little test would give a hint as to what canine family Sesshoumaru may be the most closely linked to.

She pulled out her dog catcher whistle and proceeded to call forth either coyotes or foxes or a dog demon. She climbed a tree, made the call with the whistle, suppressed her aura, and waited to see who or what would answer. While she was waiting and listening, she readied her bow just in case something came and tried to attack her.

Several hours and only a few foxes later Kagome realized two things; either Sesshoumaru wasn't part of the coyote or fox family or he was too far out of range of the call.

So onto plan B and whistle number two.

She really didn't want to use this one to make her call being it was going to bring every dog and possibly a few cats within a mile or more. She knew it worked on Sesshoumaru being he had responded to it before. So if he was within a mile and say a half away he would hear it and come to her like a good little puppy. Though he'll probably be all pissed off about it but maybe a dog biscuit will calm the mighty demon lord. She put the whistle up to her lips, gave it a good blow, and waited.

She felt bad about blowing the whistle so loud being that any canine within the immediate area either went deaf or was suffering from ringing ears. However sometimes you have to make sacrifices for the love of research.


	6. Chapter 6

Okay we now we're going to get serious in dissecting Sesshoumaru... I wonder what I've dug up and figured out. Hope you all enjoy; much love for you all. Keva

xx

It didn't take long for her to receive answers and visitors who were curious about the high pitched call. Most who answered her call were non-demon canines, a few cats, and quite a few low-level youkai who met their demise at the tip of a purifying arrow.

However it wasn't long before she felt a very powerful aura coming her way; an aura she was very familiar with. She was glad that he wasn't exuding much anger which meant that he was far enough away to hear it without it causing harm to his sensitive ears.

Once he cleared the area of the youkai that were surrounding her tree he looked up at her with narrowed ambers.

Kagome understanding a good deal about Sesshoumaru's body language knew what the look meant. He wanted an explanation and he wanted it now. This was a good time as any to start studying Sesshoumaru for his canine heritage so instead of grinning shyly as she normally would have she tucked her head in fear to gage his reaction.

She watched as his facial expression changed from one of irritated curiosity to one of passive understanding. Again, this didn't give her any insight to which family he was related to but it did tell her that her body language alone was most likely more effective than words ever could be. Well unless it was serious and death was on the line.

"Woman what are you doing up in that tree and where is the half-breed." He demanded.

Kagome had a ready explanation for this and keeping her tucked head with lowered eyes gave him an answer careful to keep it as truthful as possible. "I was walking out in the woods and strayed too far away from the village which is where Inuyasha is."

Sesshoumaru gauged her for any deceit and was shocked to find that he couldn't tell one way or the other if she was lying or not. He had wondered on this after their last confrontation. How she could give an answer to one of his demands that covered up her truth or lies was rather interesting for a ningen. "Come down from that tree."

Kagome slowly made her way back down to the forest floor and stood in front of the demon lord to await his decision as to what he was going to do with her.

"Tell me miko how was it that I was able to hear your call from so far away?"

Kagome looked up at him and gave him a wicked smile causing Sesshoumaru to narrow his eyes at her once again. "I have a whistle that has a high pitched call and it can travel for great distances."

This brought out Sesshoumaru's curiosity. "How is such a thing possible?"

Kagome kept her wicked smile in place she loved the fact that she knew things he didn't which would make him linger around wanting answers. Not to mention it that it made him actually ASK a question instead of stating one. It was rather odd to hear him ask a question especially since she was sure he thought he knew everything there was to know about everything.

"It's one of those things that come from my time. I don't really know how it works I just know that it does. You standing here is proof of that."

He wanted to see this whistle in action. "Show me."

Kagome bit her bottom lip and looked down at the ground knowing that he wasn't going to like her refusal to show him. "I can't. If I use it right now you could go deaf and I'm not going to risk that or my life. Also I don't know how far away you have to be to hear it without it causing pain to your ears."

Sesshoumaru knew her to be correct remembering the last time he heard the whistle. It had made his sensitive ears ring and gave him a headache. "You have used this before."

Kagome nodded her head. "I didn't use it to its full frequency that time but from what Ginta and Hakkaku said I made it a little too loud. I'm new to using this so I don't have real good control with it and it makes it even harder to use when I can't hear it."

Sesshoumaru was taken back by that piece of information. How could she not hear something that could be so loud to his ears from a far distance and not hear it as the one using it? "Why can you not hear this?"

Kagome wasn't an expert in how certain sounds could affect one thing and have no effect on another. "It has something to do with how high pitched a sound is. Some high pitched sounds humans can't hear but uh… those of the um…canine persuasion if you will;" She giggled nervously as she waved a hand in his direction. "can hear them."

She hoped putting it that way avoided causing offence to him she really did not want to come right out and call him a dog although that is exactly what he is.

Sesshoumaru looked down at her still as confused as ever but didn't show it. "Explain this high pitch to me."

Kagome shook her head at him. "I can't. As I said I don't really understand it myself. All I know is…" Time to use his ego to end this. "superior beings such as yourself can hear what a weak ningen such as myself can't."

"I see; your weak ningen ears can't hear the sound the whistle makes so of course you wouldn't be able to understand how it works."

Kagome's temper flared; not only did he call her weak but he also called her stupid all in one sentence. "I will have you know that just because my hearing isn't as great as yours that that doesn't make me stupid!"

Sesshoumaru raised a brow at her little outburst. "Is it not true."

Kagome snapped at him. "No. It's. Not!" She had to get herself under control and get back to the reason she called him to her in the first place. This had the potential to get out of hand and send them both in separate directions.

She took a deep nerve calming breath. "So Sesshoumaru I was wondering would it be possible to travel with you for awhile? I need a break from Inuyasha and I really don't want to go home."

_'Please say yes, please say yes.'_ She chanted to herself just in case he was thinking of saying no. She then gave him the tucked head, eyes looking up at him sadly, pouted lip, and slumped shoulders; more commonly known as the puppy dog look.

That little display of hers brought out the alpha inside him and caused his beast to shift excitedly. "Very well." He then turned and walked off knowing she would follow.

Kagome jumped for joy now she could observe him and without him even knowing.

xx

They spent the day traveling back towards his home with little to no conversation and with zero confrontations with any enemies. Which Kagome figured was because of one of two reasons. Either Sesshoumaru was informing nearby predators that he was there and for them to leave well enough alone or nothing was around that was interested in them.

Therefore she kept a close eye on Sesshoumaru's body movements to see if she could pick any physical changes that indicated he was announcing his presence. It wasn't easy to walk and focus all her attention on the demon in front of her but she managed. There were even a few times she thought for sure she saw his back vibrate as if he was growling but she couldn't hear anything. So she couldn't be sure if he was or not.

Dark crept up on them and Kagome decided that she needed a stop. A stop so that she could rest and put Sesshoumaru through some basic canine tests disguised as friendly gestures.

"Sesshoumaru can we stop for the night?" Again she used her puppy dog look on him catering to his dominant side.

Sesshoumaru wondered where she learned that particular posture from and found a hidden clearing for them to stop at for the night.

Kagome did a little happy dance in her head and put her bags down so that she could gather the necessary items to start a fire. Once she had a blazing night light she went through her bag that held all the her dog items. She dug out some dog biscuits that were not shaped like dog bones and a couple of bacon flavored dog jerkies. She then made her way over to Sesshoumaru and sat down next to him holding the jerky out of sight waiting for his nose to pick up its scent.

She watched as his nose gave a slight twitch as the bacon flavored scent hit him. "What is that you have."

Kagome held her hand up with the bacon treat. "Its bacon jerky. You want one?"

"I don't eat human food." He turned his head away from her dismissing the strips in her hand.

Kagome smiled at him. "This isn't human food."

Sesshoumaru raised a brow at her asking her silently; _'Then what the hell is it?'_

"Its food for your kind." Kagome was getting rather proud of her truth but lie answers. "I figured you might be hungry so here." She held out her hand to him with the jerky and a couple of dog biscuits while she smiled at him oh so innocently.

Sesshoumaru was a little unnerved by her smile it was screaming volumes at him saying something just isn't right. He didn't get to be where he was in life without learning a few things. He knew that when someone smiles at you like his bastard of a general usually did things weren't going to go well.

So he did what he figured was the smart thing to do in this situation. He turned his head away from her dismissing her and her _'food'_.

Kagome tilted her head to the side. "You don't want it?"

Sesshoumaru didn't give an answer he was suddenly having an internal battle with his beast. His beast wanted what she was offering and he wanted none of it.

Kagome could see from his slight posture changes that something was going on and she figured it had something to do with his beast. "If you don't want it I will put it away and save it just in case you change your mind." She got up and went over to her bag, put the treats away, and pulled out her sleeping bag. As she unrolled it a big dog bone fell out and her eyes grew wide when she saw that Sesshoumaru was looking at her and it intently.

"Miko."

She was busted, how was she going to explain a big meatless bone being in her sleeping bag? So instead of waiting for the oncoming questions, she grabbed the bone, schooled her features, and pointed at him with it. "Do you want this instead?"

Instead of one eyebrow going up both did.

Kagome shrugged his non-response off and put it back into her bag. "We'll save this one too."

Sesshoumaru watched her get into her sleeping bag and began to wonder just what she was really up to. Her ability to hide her truth or lies with her words was eating at him. Now she was carrying around big bones and food she claimed that wasn't human food but not specifically youkai food either. Then there was her whistle thing that he could hear clear over on the other side of the forest.

Something in the back of his mind was telling him that her actions of late had something to do with their conversations when she had stayed with him. The problem was he had to forget everything that they had said to each other and most of her visit so that his beast would calm and forget her.

Now here she was again doing things that were making his beast stir and want to be free so that he could have the things she had offered him. What were those things and why was his beast so determined to have them? More importantly what was she doing with them in the first place? She was up to something and he was going to find out what.

xx

Kagome sat in the castle gardens going over her notes. She decided that she was going to compare Sesshoumaru's actions against each one of her four possible canine candidates one at a time, starting with the wolf species. It was a high probability that he was related to the wolf being that Japan's native dog the Akita was closely related to the Siberian Husky who just happened to be a direct descendant of the wolf.

Yet, there was a probability that at some point in his family line a cross between two species may have occurred. This would lead to the possibility that Sesshoumaru may also be linked to one of the other three species of canine. She drafted up another outline cross referencing her book about wolves to compare against Sesshoumaru.

**Part Seven: Wolves**

**1. ****They are very adaptable**

**2. ****They are rarely encountered**

**3. ****Largest of the canine family**

**4. ****Built for stamina, powerful back and legs**

**5. ****Seems larger than it really is due to fur coat**

**6. ****Only run fast when hunting**

**7. ****Stout blocky muzzles and smaller orbital angle**

**8. ****Injury to jaw or teeth is devastating could doom it to starvation or incompetence**

**9. ****Prefers to be in a pack instead of a solitary life**

**10. ****Alpha males are not necessarily monogamous**

**11. ****Wolves function as social predators and hunt in packs**

**12. ****The pack is led by the two individuals that sit atop the social hierarchy**

**13. ****Rank order within a pack is established and maintained through a series of ritualized fights**

**14. ****Wolves have scent glands all over their body**

**15. ****In a pack, only one member will be the omega (lowest rank. Inuyasha?) and will suffer most aggression from the pack**

With her outline made she was ready to break down Sesshoumaru and see if his beast is part of the wolf family.

xx

Kagome sat at the table picking at her food and peeking out the corner of her eye at the demon sitting next to her.

"Miko what is it." He didn't bother to look at her he just maintained his gaze on some unseen spot across the room.

Kagome took a deep nervous breath and decided to just come out with it. "Sesshoumaru-sama."

Her using his title caused him to turn his gaze to her. She only seemed to used his title when she was about to ask or tell him something that she was afraid he would consider an insult.

"Are you the wolf tribe's pack leader?"

Sesshoumaru's eyebrow lifted at this. "Why would you think that I am the leader of the mangy wolfs?"

Kagome set her chopsticks down and turned her full attention to him. "Well, because of what you did to Ginta and Hakkaku that day and the fact that their pack resides within your territory."

He continued to stare at her a single brow arched in question. This was curious indeed; why would she ask such a question? "I only tolerate the wolf pack in my territory and as for being their leader I am not."

Kagome locked that little piece of information away and asked her next question. "So why didn't you kill Ginta and Hakkaku?" It wasn't that she wanted him to kill them it just didn't fit his M.O. to let them live.

"It matters not why I didn't kill them." He dismissed with a small growl to his voice.

Kagome wasn't going to be deterred by his dismissal of the subject. "If your not going to tell me why you didn't kill them then tell me why you only injured them in the same way a pack leader does when a subordinate gets out of line?"

Kagome knew that she was walking a dangerous edge of exposing why she was really there. However there was no other way to find out but to just come out and ask.

Sesshoumaru on the other hand was becoming more suspicious of her by the second. "How do you know of such things." He demanded.

Kagome just shrugged simply. "It was something I read somewhere." _'Ah the truth but lie; how long until he figures out that I can do that?' _She wondered to herself.

Sesshoumaru glared at the girl next to him she was driving him mad with her ability to use her words to cover her truth or her lies. Where had she learned to do such a thing and why was she suddenly so good at it? Especially for someone who not so long ago showed everything she thought clean across her face.

"So are you going to tell me?" Kagome asked pulling him out of his thoughts.

"No"

She sighed in disgust like he was really putting her out. "Why not?"

Sesshoumaru gave her the slightest smirk feeling her frustration which meant that she did want to know for more than just curiosities sake. "Why must you know?" He stared hard at her trying to wither her and cause her to slip up.

Kagome couldn't hide the shock at that question and scrambled for an answer. "I was just wondering is all."

And it worked. "You are lying." He said pointedly.

"I am not." She snapped at him.

She was angry with herself for not covering her ass and Sesshoumaru was way too close to finding out about her research in order to understand his beast. So she stood up and stomped out of the room.

Sesshoumaru sat there and watched her go. That little fit of hers proved that she was up to something and apparently it had something to do with the wolf tribe; but what? It was time to trick her into telling him what she was doing. He was the master of manipulation through words and although she was pretty good at it herself she didn't stand a chance. Besides if he failed at getting her to spill what she was up to he had a kitty up his sleeve he wasn't afraid to use... when he returned that is.

For now he would have to handle the girl on his own. So he stood and followed her out of the room the time to corner her was now while she was emotional.


	7. Chapter 7

Kagome sat in her room cursing herself for dropping her guard and risking her research as she did. She promised herself that she wouldn't do that and broke her own promise to herself. Now Sesshoumaru was going to be even more suspicious of her and what she was doing causing him to question her questions. "Damn, damn, damn!" She stormed around the room.

"Who is it that you are talking to miko." He demanded from the doorway.

Another round of _damns_ went through her mind at the sound of his voice. "No one just myself, why?"

Sesshoumaru was working hard to keep the smirk from forming on his lips he had her and he knew it. "Tell me miko, why are you really here?"

The fact that she didn't answer him right away told him that she was either going to lie to him or she was trying to work out her answer so that it wouldn't tell him anything. It didn't matter though he would break her with her own words.

"I told you, I needed a break from Inuyasha and that I didn't want to go home." She had a feeling that this line of questioning was going to lead her headlong into headachesville.

"And the half-breed let you leave?" He arched a condescending silver brow at her.

Kagome couldn't help but bite her bottom lip in concentration not knowing she was nearly giving herself away. "He didn't stop me from leaving."

If he was her father he would be proud at her ability to keep her answers so very vague but he isn't and wasn't. "Does he not know where you are." His ambers narrowed slightly.

Kagome was struggling with this conversation and realized that as good as she may be at using her words to hide her motives that Sesshoumaru was the master at using words at getting what he wanted. Her only option was to just stand her ground and only give the vaguest answers she could come up with. "He knows that I'm gone." She shrugged as if it was no big deal.

Sesshoumaru glared at her she was good at this little game. "He agreed to let you leave and come here then."

"He doesn't know that I'm here he just knows that I left." That truth she could tell and would only serve to confuse the demon lord.

"Miko there is something that you are not telling me and you will tell me what it is." He growled deeply.

Kagome shrugged her shoulder at him telling him that whatever he thought she was up to might or might not be true. "I just wanted to get away and didn't want to go home and I definitely did not want to go to the wolf tribe. I just figured that I could spend time with you and get to know you better. That's all." Very true, very false, and very vague, hopefully he wouldn't be able to sort it all out.

"Why would you want to spend time with this Sesshoumaru."

Kagome knew that when he referred to himself in the third person it meant that it was all business and he wouldn't tolerate anything other than the truth. No truth but lies, no vague answers, no nothing but the pure truth, but today he was going to be very disappointed.

"Why not? Is it so bad to have someone want to spend time with you? Don't you ever tire of being the lord of these lands, don't you ever just want to be the real you without someone thinking you weak?" Wow that sounded like a commercial for the newest drug to help those who suffer form loneliness. She thought while trying to suppress a giggle that was building up in her.

Sesshoumaru looked at the girl wondering at her line of questioning. What was it about him that she wanted to spend time with him to get to know him better? No one ever wanted to spend time with him except for Jaken and Rin who never really took time to know or understand him and he really didn't care. Then there was his obnoxious general who though they were life long friends had a tendency to rub clean the wrong way.

He decided that if she wasn't going to tell him what he wanted to know he would humor her and her questions then wait until she slipped up. Then he would know what her real motives for being there were. "Very well miko; if you do not wish to tell me what I want to know then so be it. I will humor you and let you _'get to know me'_."

Then he was gone leaving her to wonder why he would just drop it like that. She glared at the spot he was just standing in. "You're up to something and whatever it is I will be ready." She seethed at the floor.

xx

Kagome sat against the wall of the training studio watching Sesshoumaru go through his training motions. "Hey Sesshoumaru?"

He stopped midway through one of his attack postures and turned towards her waiting for her to ask her question. He didn't like being interrupted while training but for her he would make an exception so that he could find out what she was up to.

"When your father died did you have to go through a lot of battles in order to become the new lord?"

He arched a brow slightly at her. "No, it was passed to me by my father. Many thought about challenging me for my lands but none ever acted upon it."

Kagome bit her lip in concentration that went against what wolves do when there is no alpha at the top of the pack. "Why don't you have a mate to help you maintain order within your lands?"

Her questions were getting stranger and stranger every time they talked. "Do you believe me to be unable to take care of my own without help." He narrowed his eyes slightly.

She shook her head furiously. "No, no, I was just wondering why you don't have a mate especially with your status."

Sesshoumaru was starting to get an idea about why she wanted to spend time with him but still he wasn't completely sure. "I have no need of one."

"Don't you want to have an heir to carry on your legacy?"

Well now perhaps he was getting somewhere with this strange girl. Was that why she was here; to offer herself as a potential mate and bearing his child? Did she not know that she was a ningen and that he could never take her or any other human to mate? "Why, do you want to bare me an heir?" He slowly made his way over to her and smirked inwardly at the shade of red her face had suddenly become.

"No" She shook her head vigorously. "I was… well… I was just curious. You have been lord of the west for a long time and I was wondering why you haven't mated or had pups yet?"

_'Pups? Why would a ningen use that word?'_ She knew way too much about beasts for this to just be oblivious questioning; of that he was sure. He kneeled down in front of her, placed his finger under her chin, and tilted her face up so that he could look into her eyes. "I don't have a mate because there are none that are worthy of this Sesshoumaru. As for having heirs yes I would like to have them someday but not unless they have a strong pure mother."

Kagome wondered at the use of the word pure. Did that mean purebred or did that mean pure as in no loss of innocence; only one way to find out… ask. "What do you mean by pure?" She looked deep into his golden eyes wondering what that flash of something inside them was. It kept coming and going but never stayed long enough to make itself really known.

He leaned down until his lips were next to her ear causing her to shiver. "Exactly what it means. Pure." He stood up and left her sitting there wondering what that was all about.

xx

_Notebook Entry: Sesshoumaru's Day One_

_In a comparison study of Sesshoumaru in the human form (from here on called demon form) to that of the wolf species indicates that._

_a) He didn't have to go through the ritual fights that determine who would be the alpha of a pack once the former alpha either died or became too old to do the job. _

_b) Having a mate and reproducing to keep his pack strong is not something he considers being important._

_c) He wants the mother of his pups to be pure and strong._

_The afore mentioned a and b go completely against the way of the wolf. As for c, it's still undetermined as to his use of the word pure. I'm sure that if I were to ask his beast it would say purebred but the demon side of him might want a mate that is untouched. This brings up a new set of questions. Which side truly decides on whom to mate? Is there an internal struggle over whom to mate if both parties have picked different intendeds? Does the demon mate the chosen female or does his beast?_

_What I know about Sesshoumaru without asking compared to the wolf species is:_

_a) He is a solitary hunter. This is not like the wolf._

_b) He is rarely seen, unless he wants to be seen._

_c) He does seem larger than he really is, due to armor and his fluff on his shoulder. (Note to self ask him what he calls that thing.)_

_d) He either considers Inuyasha to be the omega or a threat to his territory._

_Further questioning will have to take place to get an answer to what Inuyasha is exactly to him._

_I wonder though is Sesshoumaru this way with Inuyasha not because he considers Inuyasha the omega or a threat to his territory but because Inuyasha failed to leave his pack and start his own? Usually the siblings to the alpha wolf leave the pack in order to make their own packs so that they can mate, reproduce, and strengthen their own bloodline._

_Not only did Inuyasha not start his own pack he hasn't marked out his own territory. He has cut out part of Sesshoumaru's territory and claimed it as his own. This could also explain Sesshoumaru's anger towards his brother. _

_The more I seem to find out the more questions it brings up and only Sesshoumaru can answer these questions._

_I'll have an easier time ripping my own fingernails out then getting clear answers out of him._

xx

"Hey Sesshoumaru-sama?"

Sesshoumaru turned his gaze to the girl who so rudely walked into his study without knocking. "Hn" He watched as she bit her bottom lip indicating that the questions were going to be long, involved, somewhat insulting, and stranger than the ones the day before.

"Why are you so hard on Inuyasha? I mean he is part of your family and it's strange that you would be so… cruel… no not cruel but difficult… maybe?" Ok Kagome now go for the throat. "We both know that you could easily kill him but you don't. Why?"

Sesshoumaru stared at the girl wondering where this all came from. Yesterday it was why he didn't have a mate and all that now it's why he treats Inuyasha the way he does.

"Inuyasha is nothing but a lowly whelp who is not worth this Sesshoumaru's time to kill." He already knew what the next question out of the inquisitive ningen was going to be; _'why'_.

"Why?"

If he were a demon that allowed emotions to play on his face the one he would be showing right now would be annoyed exasperation. "It matters not why I don't kill him."

Kagome was going to once again put her research at risk. She schooled her face into one of sympathetic understanding and began to slowly nod her head. "Is it because you consider him to be the omega?"

Sesshoumaru narrowed his eyes on her; he was beginning to get a clearer picture of why she was really here.

"You know; the lowliest member of your pack. The one who suffers the most abuse from those higher than him."

How did she know so much about pack life? He had to wonder again just what this was all about. "Miko; Inuyasha is not part of my pack as for my treatment of him it is inconsequential. Now no more questions about the half-breed." He turned his head back to his work thinking that she would leave and was sadly disappointed when she didn't. Instead, she started with another round of questions. Starting with the strangest one he had ever heard in all his long life.

She wasn't deterred and definitely not finished with her questions. "So Sesshoumaru; if I were to say punch you in the jaw and break it would you die of starvation?"

Sesshoumaru looked up at the girl and raised both brows highly at that question. The woman had to have gone mad. "No." Again, her bottom lip was being attacked by her teeth.

"What about your demon would he?" Before he could answer she supplied herself with one. "Wait never mind I already know the answer."

Now if he thought that that question was strange he was about to get the shock of a lifetime.

"Um, do you… uh have a… do you have…" She began to blush like a mad woman. "Do you have scent markers all over your body?"

Sesshoumaru for the first time in his life was speechless. It wasn't that he didn't know the answer it was why she was asking such a thing. He opened his mouth to tell her that it was none of her concern but she opened her mouth and interrupted him before a sound could pass his lips.

"I suppose your beast does, so you should have them too. Right?" She stared at him expectantly.

Sesshoumaru had had enough of the woman's strange questions and wanted to know why she was asking such things. "Enough of your nonsense. You will now tell me why you are asking these things."

Kagome took a step closer to his desk she was ready for this confrontation. "I told you already. I was just curious, is that so bad? You of all demons should understand what it is to be curious."

He glared her down trying to frighten her into spilling the truth but found that she wasn't affected in the least. Which wasn't all that surprising.

"So are you going to answer my questions or not? Just know that if you don't I will keep asking until you do." She nodded determinedly.

Sesshoumaru's glare didn't falter in the slightest. "Why must you know these things." He demanded.

Kagome tilted her head to the side and she decided that now that she had his brain cells bouncing around and crashing into each other she could hint at what she was doing without coming out and saying it. "I was just trying to understand a demon's body and its workings. I would ask Inuyasha but he doesn't know the answers to my questions."

Kagome couldn't be prouder of the demon in front of her. In a way he could be just as predictable as Inuyasha. Just remind him of how inferior Inuyasha is to him and his ego will take over the rest.

"Of course the half-breed wouldn't know."

Now it was time to really take it to his ego. "But do you?"

Sesshoumaru locked his eyes with hers giving her the I'm not as stupid as the half-breed look. "Of course this Sesshoumaru knows the answers to your questions."

Kagome tried to keep the smirk from appearing on her face she had him and they both knew it. "So are you going to answer me or not?"

Sesshoumaru was getting more irritated by the second. She had backed him into a corner and he didn't like it at all. If he didn't answer she would think that he didn't know and if he did answer her he was playing right into her hands. He gave himself a mental sigh of disgust and just answered her hoping that it would finally shut her up. "Yes"

Kagome furrowed her brows deeply. "Yes what?"

This time Sesshoumaru had to smirk at her and he let it show. "Just yes."

Kagome thought about it for a second then responded with. "Oh I get it."

Making him wonder just what that meant.

She kept her wicked grin on her lips, dropped a dog biscuit on his desk, and ran out of the room. You always reward a dog for good behavior. She thought as she ran down the hall giggling to herself.

She had made major progress and the day was still young. She couldn't wait for dinnertime for she was going to try to find out what pure meant to him. That was the one thing that bothered her most and she didn't understand why. She had to find out what it meant and the fact that she verbally beat him once today she figured she could do it again.


	8. Chapter 8

Kagome sat at the table trying to keep her excitement from bubbling out of her. It was time for round two.

Sesshoumaru looked over at the girl next to him feeling her excitement rolling off her in waves and wondered at it. He knew well enough that eventually she would come out with it so he waited patiently knowing she couldn't contain herself for long.

"Sesshoumaru-sama?"

He glared at her he knew what it meant when she used his title and he was beginning to dread it every time he heard her say it.

She could tell that he wasn't going to give her the go ahead to continue so she did anyway. "Will you tell me what you meant when you said that you wanted a mate that was pure?"

Sesshoumaru raised his brow at her. "Why do you want to know?"

Kagome took a deep breath. "Well, the way you said it it was so vague and I was just curious as to what you meant by it."

Sesshoumaru turned his head and stared at the same invisible spot across the room that he always did. "It is of no concern of yours."

Kagome was not going to give this up. She was still riding the high of the verbal spar from this morning and was ready to have another go round with the demon. "You're not sure what it means to you either, huh?"

Sesshoumaru remembered her bating her answers out of him that morning and wanted none of it this evening. "It's none of your concern. You will cease your questioning of this Sesshoumaru."

Kagome did just that. The tone in his voice told her that now was not the time not even for small talk. She rose from her spot and left the room with the question of what pure means taunting her.

Sesshoumaru watched her leave the room leaving behind her frustration and confusion lingering in the air. He was still irritated with the conversation that they had in his study that morning though he did have to admit that that cookie thing she left on his desk was almost worth it.

He had never had anything quite like it and wouldn't mind having it again but he would never sink so low as to ask for one. He also had to admit that she was almost as good as him at using her words to get the information she wanted out of someone. The question was where did she learn such a thing?

Ningens weren't usually the best when it came to quick thinking and always faltered when it came to trying to hide their truths or lies but not her. Was she able to hide behind her words because of where she came from or was she just naturally gifted at it? He was going to have to monitor her and find out just what makes this Kagome girl work.

xx

_Notebook Entry: Sesshoumaru's Day Two_

_What I have come to understand about the physical link between Sesshoumaru and his beast is that if one is injured the other is also. His arm is a perfect example of this. Sesshoumaru's beast lost his leg to Inuyasha and Sesshoumaru in his demon form lost his arm as well. This tells me that although they have two separate bodies they share the same **physical** feelings. (Though if Sesshoumaru's beast broke it's jaw it would heal due to Sesshoumaru's demon side of that I'm certain.)_

_The question however is; how is this possible? Is the physical link between the two as two halves of one whole? That is the only possibility that would explain how Sesshoumaru lost his arm when his beast lost his leg._

_This brings up Inuyasha. When I asked him about Inuyasha's status in his pack he denied that Inuyasha was part of his pack but on the same token said that Inuyasha was a lowly whelp. By him using the term lowly whelp however indicated that Inuyasha is an omega._

_This brings up two reasons that Sesshoumaru would regard Inuyasha as he does. One, Inuyasha is really part of Sesshoumaru's pack and he is the omega or two Sesshoumaru considers Inuyasha's pack as trespassers on his territory. I will have to ask Sesshoumaru to explain his relationship with Inuyasha in order to understand their interactions better._

_Finally, it turns out that Sesshoumaru has scent glands all over his body. It wasn't easy to obtain this information from him but it was well worth the verbal battle to get the information I needed. I will have to find out how he goes about marking his territory. I can't imagine the mighty Sesshoumaru pissing on a tree to mark it but it would be funny if he did._

xx

Kagome had to wonder if Sesshoumaru was so good at staring someone down because he was a dog or because he was a demon. He was giving her his tell me what I want to know or die stare and she was almost sure that even if she told him what he wanted to know she would probably die. "I'm explaining nothing to you. You deserve what you got."

Sesshoumaru glared at her ready to strike her dead. Ever since he brought the girl home it's been one thing after another. Strange never ending questions, strange foods he's never seen or tasted before, and even stranger puzzles.

Now there was this thing that could defend itself against those who wished to touch it with no outside influence. Apparently; the girl held the thing under her control being she could touch it without incident. "Explain miko."

Kagome crossed her arms over her chest defiantly. "I already told you I have nothing to explain. If you were dumb enough to go into my room and mess around with my stuff then what you got is what you deserved."

Sure dogs were curious but Sesshoumaru's curiosity was just ridiculous. You would think that after it happening once he'd be done with it but no not Sesshoumaru. After touching it the first time he had to go and touch it two more times and only succeeded in pissing his own self off.

"Miko this is my home and I will do as I please." He countered with a deadly growl.

Kagome gave a disgusted snort. "It may be your home but that was my stuff and you had no right to go through it." The demon was impossible just because this was his home he thought he had every right to go through stuff that didn't belong to him.

"That may be the case; however it is in my home therefore making it mine by right."

Kagome rolled her eyes at him that was the fifth time he had told her that only in a different way. "For someone who never repeats himself you sure do repeat yourself a lot."

Sesshoumaru glared harder at the girl trying to frighten her into telling him what he wanted to know knowing that it wouldn't work; it never did. "I grow tired of this. Tell me what I wish to know or suffer the consequences."

Kagome _'humph' _at him and continued her staring contest with the demon. She would never tell him what the thing actually was being it would expose her research and she was already pushing it with her questions. She decided that she would just tell him that it was some kind of futuristic miko weapon or something like that and end this once and for all. "Fine it's a necklace like the one Inuyasha has that comes from my time."

Sesshoumaru eyed her suspiciously again couldn't tell if she was lying or not. He decided that he would consider what she said to be a lie and call her on it. "You will not lie to me miko."

Kagome was taken back for a second did he know she was lying? She made sure that what she said wasn't the complete truth but enough of one to cover the lie it held. "Why would you think that I was lying? You don't know what that thing is and I do, so it could be anything I say it is. You can be sure though that it is in a sense a necklace." She had to stifle a giggle at that one because it was the truth _'in a sense'_.

"You know what Sesshoumaru since you are so curious about things I will give it to you and you can play with it to your heart's content. If you can figure out what it is for then I will tell you what it really is." She tossed the thing on the table watching his reaction to it.

Sesshoumaru was tempted to scoot away from the thing but being who he was he didn't. "I will not play these games with you miko."

Kagome shrugged her shoulders at him and rose from her seat. "That's the deal. Lets just see how much you want to know what that thing is really for and how it works." She then walked out of the study leaving the great demon lord to stare at the thing that defeated him three times that morning.

Kagome walked down the hall giggling to herself picturing Sesshoumaru battling with the shock collar. It took everything she had to keep from laughing at him when she caught him with it earlier. The thing was suppose to teach dogs not to do something but instead of Sesshoumaru not touching it he had to go and touch it two more times. His beast probably knew not to touch it again but his demon side couldn't help it. She was sure that he was having an internal battle with his beast and wondered who would come out victor.

"And what would be so funny?" A deep voice suddenly questioned from behind her.

She spun around and when she locked stares with a pair of deep copper colored eyes she smiled hugely. "You finally came back home."

Kei smirked at her. "Hai something was crawling up my spine telling me it would be very wise for me to come back straight away. Now I can see why."

"Haha." She bit back sarcastically. "I forgot just how funny you were." She rolled her eyes at him.

He moved to stand right in front of her towering over her small form. "Alright out with it what is so funny?"

She took a step back to save her neck from the kink it was sure to have having to look up at him. What was it with demons and doing that to people anyway? Sesshoumaru did it all the time; he would just walk up to her and tower over her like some giant of a beast. Maybe it was some ingrained youkai thing she didn't understand. "Well I was wondering; if common cats lick their butts do you do the same?"

"Oh aren't you the funny one." He snorted.

"Hey I thought it was funny." She chuckled. "So anyway how was your trip?"

He shrugged. "Same as every year; dad wants to know when I'm going to have an heir and mom thinks I'm still too young to be on my own."

She drew her brows as she stared up at him. "And exactly how old is too young?"

"Over a thousand years." He smirked. "I could be two thousand and she'd still think I was too young. That's the problem with being mama's little boy."

Kagome shook her head. "I would have never figured that youkai have the same problems with their parents as humans do."

"Well we are sort of the same the only difference is we live longer and we're part animal." He shrugged dismissively. "Beyond that it's all the same youkai, hanyou, or human."

"Hmm... never would have guessed that." She nodded.

"Now how about you tell me why you're back here again?" He arched a dark brow in question at her.

She smirked darkly at him. "In the words of one Kei Oita it's just the curious cat in me."

"Oh and what are we curious about as if I didn't know." He leered suggestively at her.

She rolled her eyes dramatically at him. "Yea that's it. I'm all hot and bothered for the giant puppy."

"I knew that already." He smirked at her and began walking down the hallway. "I saw you kiss him."

Her eyes snapped wide as she watched him walk away. "Hey I didn't kiss him because I wanted to you know!"

"Right." He rolled his eyes when he turned to look at her. "And Sesshoumaru's not a great white bastard." He chuckled then disappeared around the corner heading for the kitchen.

"Oooh I hate him!" She stamped her foot to the floor then stormed off to her room.

xx

Sesshoumaru continued to stare at the wretched thing on his desk wanting to understand how and why it worked but not really wanting to touch it. His beast was cowering from the thing which made him wonder if it was used to suppress a demon's beast. She had said that it came from the her own time which brought up a very freighting thought.

Did humans create this to control demons and suppress their beasts?

He reached out a claw and grabbed the thing by the strange material the same way the girl did and held it up in front of his face. He had to put the thing to a test and he knew just the _beast_ for the job… Jaken.

xx

Kagome was sitting in the garden watching Rin play when she heard the most horrible noise in her life. She wasn't sure if that sound came from man or beast or what but she was sure that she never wanted to hear it again. She got up and took off back into the castle to find out what it was and see if anyone was hurt and needed her help. Just as she stepped in the door the screech or whatever it was echoed through the halls and she took off in the direction it came from. She made it to Sesshoumaru's study where she heard someone or something gasping for air and things crashing to the floor. She threw the door open and didn't know if she should laugh at what she saw or cry for the poor thing.

Sesshoumaru was sitting at his desk looking down at the writhing toad before him with a look of superiority on his face.

Jaken was rolling around on the floor grabbing at the collar around his neck trying to remove the torturous thing. Every time he would try to speak and beg his lord to remove it he would get a terrible pain through his neck. What did he do to make his master punish him in such a way?

"Sesshoumaru what are you doing?" Kagome bit out at him as she bent down to remove the collar from Jaken's neck.

Sesshoumaru just smirked superiorly at her. "I am as you put it _'playing'_ with the thing to see what it does."

Kagome let out a heavy sigh. "I didn't mean for you to torture someone or…" Kagome cringed her nose at the poor toad lying on the floor writhing in agony. "something with it."

_'So it's a torture device then.' _He thought as a realization came to him. "I will keep the necklace it could prove to be very useful." _'Against a bastard of a neko.'_ He thought smugly to himself.

Kagome's eyes went wide knowing what Sesshoumaru would do if he were allowed to keep it. "Not on your life. It's not yours and I'll be damned if I will let you keep it."

He narrowed his eyes in a threatening manner. "Miko I will keep it."

Kagome walked up to his desk, put her fists on it, and smiled evilly at him. "How about I put it on you and see how well it works. If you can handle it for one day then you can keep it."

Sesshoumaru looked at the evil smile on her face and glared at her. "What are you playing at miko? If I want to keep the thing then I will; without your approval."

"What; are you afraid of putting it on for a day? Can't the great demon lord of the west not handle a little pain?" She turned and began walking towards the door with the collar in her hand. "And here I thought you were the most feared and strongest youkai in all the land."

Sesshoumaru heard the amusement in her voice and was ready to remove the girl from his life permanently. She was again backing him into a corner with little hope for escape. "Girl you try my patience. Hold your tongue or you will find it missing."

Again he was received with a shoulder shrug as she left the room. He couldn't for the life of himself figure out why he continued to allow the girl to behave such as she does. Had it been anyone else he would have struck them dead the first time they stepped out of line but not her. There was just something about her that kept him from killing her and he didn't know what it was. How the half-breed put up with her was beyond him.

xx

Sesshoumaru looked down at the little bag in front of his door. He bent down, picked it up, and noticed that it had those little cookies in it like the one she had left on his desk. He figured it was her way of apologizing to him for her behavior.

He tucked the bag into the sleeve of his haori and set off to find her; he had some questions for her and he wanted some answers.

He found her in the library writing something in a strange book with an even stranger writing utensil. "Hey Sesshoumaru do you prefer to be awake during the day or during the night?" She didn't bother to look up at him as she asked her question.

Sesshoumaru just looked at her wondering why for the thousandth time she would ask him such strange questions.

When he didn't answer she finally had to look up at him. "Well, are you going to answer me or not?"

Sesshoumaru walked up to the table she was sitting at and tried to see what it was she was writing. It wasn't easy to try to read upside down but he did see something that caught his interest… his name.

Kagome seeing that he was trying to read what was in her notebook closed the book and glared at him. "Don't be nosey. Now answer my question."

Sesshoumaru being Sesshoumaru realized that what ever she was up to was in that notebook and he was going to get his hands on it; especially since it had his name in it. He knew if he questioned her about it she wouldn't give him any information so as much as he despised the thought he was going to have to steal it. Sometimes you have to do things you wouldn't normally in order to bring down your enemy. Although she may not be an enemy in the same sense Naraku was his enemy she was an enemy in the art of secrecy. She always had an answer for everything she did and she was almost as good as him at using her words as well as other's words to her own benefit.

He decided that that night the strange book was going to be his even if he had to sink to underhanded trickery. This included such things as drugging, distraction using a child, or even physical contact. He noticed that she would usually become extremely distracted and unable to speak properly when he was really close to her and that was her greatest weakness which he would exploit for all he was worth.

He walked around the desk to stand behind her and watched as she hugged the book to her chest as if it were a child that needed protecting. "Miko what is in that book you do not wish for me to see?"

She gripped the book tighter to her chest as she craned her neck back to look at the demon standing behind her. "Nothing that concerns you."

Sesshoumaru narrowed his ambers slightly. "You will not lie to this Sesshoumaru."

Kagome's eyes widened slightly at the reference of himself in the third person. "Ok… well… It does concern you… but a… you can't see it right now. I will show it to you when I am done with it." She hoped that that would make him go away. It was true that when she was done she was going to show it to him.. Well… leave it for him to find anyway. She didn't know how he would feel about being a research experiment and had no plans on sticking around to find out once she gave him her findings.

"You will give me the book." He growled coldly.

Kagome glared at him. "I will not! And don't even think of trying to take it either. I am going to keep this attached to my side as if was my own child."

That little statement really piqued his curiosity. To guard something that protectively meant that it was something very important. "Very well."

Kagome watched as he began to leave the room. He was up to something there was no way he was just going to walk away from this just like that she had to be on her guard. She had a feeling that he was going to try to get his dirty little claws on her book and she was going to be ready.

She ran to her room and dug around in her bag for a spray bottle that contained something that dogs didn't like and kept them from jumping on the furniture. She brought it so that she could try to spray it on Kikyo and see how Inuyasha dealt with a stinkier than usual girlfriend. But then again if he could tolerate the smell of death, bones, and clay she highly doubted that the dog repellent would work on him.

She wondered at the reaction the demon lord would have to it. Maybe she should go around and spray it in various areas of the castle and she how he dealt with it. Then again maybe not just spraying it on the notebook would have to do because she liked her head right where it was. Plus the stuff really did stink even to her human nose.

She took out a second notebook and sprayed it as well she was going to test the stink factor against Sesshoumaru's curiosity. She opened it up and scribbled nonsense on the first few pages drew some pictures and just for fun put Sesshoumaru's name in the middle of a heart. This was going to be fun she thought as she left her room with the book that was identical to the one Sesshoumaru would love to get his hands on. She headed for his study hoping that he wasn't in there and was really disappointed when she found that he was.


	9. Chapter 9

She opened his door knowing how much he hated it when she entered without knocking. "Ok Sesshoumaru I will give into you this one time. She tossed the book on his desk and watched as his nose began to twitch against the stink that invaded his nostrils. "What's the matter Sesshoumaru? Don't you want to read what's in the book?" She had to bite back the laughter that was threatening to erupt from her.

Sesshoumaru glared at the girl standing in front of him. Did she think him to be so weak as to not be able to handle a little stink? Sure his beast was shifting and trying to get him to back away from the thing but he didn't care. He wanted to know what was in the book and he was going to find out no matter the cost.

Kagome watched as a clawed hand reached out and grabbed the book, while the owner of the claws nose scrunched up in disgust. She wanted to stay and watch what he would do but also feared that once he managed to get past the stink of the stuff she sprayed on the book that he was going to be angry for being fooled. She wasn't entirely sure what he saw when he peeked at her other book and hoped that whatever it was was also in this book.

Sesshoumaru was struggling terribly. He didn't want her to know that he knew she lying about the book but also wanted to show her that whatever she had done to the book to make it smell so terribly didn't bother him as much as she figured it would. He opened the book, scanned the pages, and looked up at her when he saw his name in the center of a heart. "What is this symbol around my name?"

Kagome blushed madly. "It's a heart."

Sesshoumaru glanced back down at the heart then back up to the tomato red girl. "What does it mean?" He could tell by the way she was blushing what it could mean but wanted to hear her say it and confirm his suspicions about how she thinks of him. He noticed for the first time since he brought her home with him that she was speechless. "Come girl answer me."

Kagome felt as if her tongue had swollen to twice its size. What was she thinking by putting his name in the center of a heart? She didn't think he would get past the smell of the stuff she sprayed on the book to look at it so she didn't think about it. Now he wanted an answer and by damn she didn't have one except to leave the room immediately. Which is exactly what she did.

Sesshoumaru watched her stumble over herself to get out of the room with a small smirk on his lips. She was going to be easy to bring down with her wily ways. A woman who is fairly new to the battle of the sexes and him who was an expert; she didn't stand a chance. He threw the book out the window to be rid of its horrid stench and went back to work on the contracts on his desk. While the in the back of his mind he was plotting the Kagome girl's downfall.

xx

Inuyasha hopped out of the well angrier than he had ever been. Kagome wasn't at home and he had no idea where she was. He couldn't find her scent anywhere and worried why; it was as if she had disappeared into thin air. He had run out of cookies and wanted more so he figured he would go to Kagome and force her give him some.

Imagine his surprise when he got there and she wasn't there but her family that was suppose to be on vacation was. Then imagine his even bigger surprise when he found out that the wonderful cookies she had given him were really DOG BISCUITS!

The girl was going to get an earful for giving him common dog food no matter how good it tasted. He took the pillow out of his haori sleeve and gave it a sniff to calm his nerves. Her scent was still on the pillow but it was beginning to fade and that was starting to make him a little nervous. Not that he wasn't already knowing that Kagome was missing and he wasn't able to pick up her scent anywhere.

He had to find her and make sure that she was okay but where could she be? Did Naraku get a hold of her and take her jewel shards? He shot back to the village to get the rest of the group together so that they could go in search of their missing friend.

xx

Kagome sat on her bed she had to get some kind of research done today that would be helpful but so far only found out that Sesshoumaru wasn't allowed to have control over the shock collar. She had to find out what similarities he shared with the coyote species.

It was time to regroup and come up with a plan of action. First off, make sure that the notebook was always out of reach of the curious demon. Secondly, she had to corner him into answering her questions. Dinnertime could be a good time to do that as that was where she usually questioned him. Maybe she could employ Rin and see what the little girl could get out of him. Or, if Rin had any information that would help her so that she wouldn't have to put so many questions to the demon lord. Maybe Kei? But did she trust the neko to tell her and not go running back to Sesshoumaru and tell him what she was doing?

Why she hadn't thought of that earlier was beyond her. She supposed that she didn't want Rin to accidentally inform Sesshoumaru what she was up to blowing all her research and Kei... He might talk and that was a risk she just couldn't take. She could only imagine what Sesshoumaru would do to her were he to find out what she was really up to.

xx

Kagome sat at the table trying to figure out what question she would or should ask first.

She was unaware of the ever so slight grin that was on the demon lord's face. He had plans of his own and right about now they were being followed through. The book would be his tonight and he would make sure that the book was the last thing on the girl's mind.

"So Sesshoumaru are you going to answer my question?"

Sesshoumaru turned towards her. "What question?"

Kagome tilted her head. "You know the one I asked you earlier today. Do you prefer to be awake during the day or during the night?"

"Why must you know?"

Kagome bit her bottom lip. "I was just curious. I have never seen you sleep so I was wondering if you slept at night or during the day."

Sesshoumaru turned his gaze back to his favorite invisible spot across the room. "I sleep when necessary.

Kagome scowled at him. She knew that he was avoiding giving her a direct answer. "That doesn't tell me anything."

Sesshoumaru turned back towards her and leaned down so that his lips were just inches from her ear. "Would you like to come to my bed and see when I sleep?"

Kagome was inside her head screaming at her to speak and instead her body took over and made her do the unthinkable; she nodded.

Sesshoumaru smirked at that then went in for the kill. "Very well, you shall come to my room this night and see if I sleep."

Kagome didn't move and she was sure that she was going to pass out at any second being that she had stopped breathing. Was she really going to go to his room to see if he was going to sleep that night? What had she gotten herself into and how the hell was she going to get out of it?

xx

Shaky green hands were trying to carefully pull the stuff out of the yellow bag in search of a book his lord desired. If he failed to retrieve the book his lord promised him that he would once again feel the sting of the torture necklace around his neck. The book had to be in the room somewhere and he was going to find it.

He wondered why Sesshoumaru-sama wanted the book so badly and was even more curious as to why Inuyasha's bitch was here at the castle in the first place. It wasn't his place to question why his lord did what he did but as his years of service flew by he was finding that serving his lord was getting harder day by day. First the little girl and her insatiable need to dress him up in every flower in the garden and now the miko with the strange torture device that she gave to his lord to try out on him.

Maybe being the servant to the great western lord was coming to an end. Sure he promised a lifetime of service to him but he sure as hell didn't remember promising to be a baby sitter, or a kick ball, or even a test subject for the latest torture devices. Why did he bother to stick around? It was his honor that kept him tied to the lord. Maybe honor wasn't such a great thing to have anymore.

He turned from the bag unable to find the book and began his search in the desk in the corner of the room. He had to find it and he had to find it soon. Surely dinner should soon be over and the miko wench was going to come back to her room and find him there. Then he would get it first by her then by his lord. What was a lowly servant such as him to do?

xx

Kagome stood just inside the door wringing her hands together. She had tried everything she could think of to get out of this and he wouldn't let her. He practically dragged her from the dining room to his bedroom. Telling her the entire way that this was her idea and if she didn't want to go through with it then she should have never agreed to do so.

She watched as he began to disrobe himself and slowly began to inch her way backwards to the door in hopes of making an escape. She wasn't serious when she agreed to this her body acted without her mind's consent. Now she was paying the price for her body's traitorous action.

Sesshoumaru turned towards her wearing nothing but his hakama and smirked at the deep blush that the girl who was slowly creeping towards the door now sported.

She was in awe of the beautiful male standing there with his perfectly sculpted bare chest which was just begging to be touched and his eyes boring into hers with… laughter?

"Do you see something you like miko?" He questioned as he raised a brow highly at her.

Kagome shook her head furiously at him as he slowly made his way towards her. She was horrified to find that her legs would no longer move and were rooted tightly to the spot. "Stop right there Sesshoumaru." She held her hands up in front of her to try to block him from getting any closer to her.

Sesshoumaru stopped when he felt her hands upon his bare chest. He began to lean in closer and closer to her causing her to step back until she was against a wall. The closer he got to her the bigger her eyes became and the faster her heart pounded in her chest.

He wasn't faring much better being so close to her for so long. He didn't care however and continued to push forward. Just as his lips were a mere inches from hers his bedroom door flew open effectively bringing the girl out of her shock and giving her her chance to escape.

"Sesshoumaru-sama, Sesshoumaru-sama!" The little toad squawked as he came running into the room.

Sesshoumaru released a low growl at the intrusion of the toad. "Jaken. You have entered my room without permission."

The little toad froze in his spot. "S-ssorry Sesshoumaru-sama." He hit the floor in a cowering bow at the demon's feet. "B-bbut my lord you told me to seek you out when I found the girl's book."

"You have found it?"

Jaken jumped up to his feet. "Yes my lord and several others as well. I have placed them in your study."

Sesshoumaru stepped on the toad and left the room headed for his study. He had been curious about what she had written in the book since he first saw it and now he would find out. He was also curious about these other books that Jaken had spoken of.

He stepped into his study and sitting atop his desk were several books that he had never seen before but he didn't spy the one book he wanted the most. He walked over to the desk and began to go through them. He read the title to each one and was shocked to find what the books were about.

The first one was called _'Wolves A Pack Life.'_ The next one was. _'A Coyote's Howl' _whatever a coyote was. Then there was _'A Guide to Wild Dogs'_, _'What Makes A Dog A Dog'_, _'Training Your Puppy'_, and _'Training Your Senior Dog'_, _'Just Jackals'_, and _'A Guide To All Things Fox'_. Then there was the very last one the one that really captivated him. _'Wolves and their Mating Habits.'_

What was this girl doing with all these books? _'Jaken come'_ he mentally sent out to the toad. There was no sign of the one book he wanted the most. Not to say that these books were any less interesting than the one he desired but he would rather have the notebook.

Jaken came running into his study again forgetting to knock on the door before his entrance and hit the floor after seeing the look on his master's face.

"Jaken, the book I desire is not here; where is it?"

Jaken stood up from his place on the floor. "My lord those were the only books in the miko's room. I found them in the desk with that." He pointed over to a small box sitting on a small table in the corner.

Sesshoumaru eyed the box then went over and picked it up. He opened it and his eyes grew wide at what he saw. She wouldn't she would die first. What did she take him for?

xx

Kagome sat on the bed in her room with her hand up to her throat. What was that all about with him? She wondered.

Sure it was her own fault for agreeing to go to his room but she didn't think he would bring himself so close to her like that. She had to remind herself over and over that she was only there to understand Sesshoumaru's beast otherwise she would bolt back to Inuyasha.

Speaking of Inuyasha; she wondered if he was still content or had he gone in search of her? How long can a dog stand to be away from its master? She was sure that Inuyasha considered her his master considering what a huff he made about everything she did. It also explained his attitude towards her. Although his canine side considered her to be his master his human side couldn't stand it. Hence, why Inuyasha was such a jerk sometimes.

Now if only she could have the same kind of insight in to the great lord things would flow so much more smoothly.

xx

Sesshoumaru stared at the items in the box and wondered what she was doing with them and what was she planning on using them for. Maybe it was for the half-breed but if that were the case why would she still have it with her? Shouldn't she have given it to him already if that was whom it was truly for? Surely she didn't think it was for him? He would never!

The girl was up to something and whatever it was it couldn't possibly end in a good way. He closed the box, went back over to his desk, and put it in the top drawer. He would confront her with the box on another day for now however he would turn his attention to the strange books especially the one about wolves and mating.

He sat down and picked the book up examining its glossy cover with what looked like a real living dog on the front. Her time was truly amazing if they could capture a creature and trap it in a book like they had this one. He flipped through the book and stopped as something caught his eye.

Above the text it showed a picture of two dogs one sniffing the ass of the other. What on earth was this girl up to to cause her to read such things? He wondered to himself as he looked down and began to read what it said beneath the picture.

_During the mating season, breeding wolves become extremely affectionate with one another in anticipation for the female's ovulation cycle. Overall, pack tension rises, as each mature wolf begins to feel the urge to mate. When the alpha female goes into estrus, a phenomenon that occurs once per year and lasts 5–14 days, she and her mate will spend an increased amount of time in seclusion. Pheromones in the female's urine and the swelling of her vulva let the male know when his mate is in heat. She will be unreceptive for the first few days of estrus, during which time she sheds the lining of her uterus. Once the female begins to ovulate, mating occurs. The male wolf will mount the female firmly from behind. After achieving coitus, the two form a copulatory tie_ _once the male's bulbus glandis— an erectile tissue located near the base of the canine penis— swells and the female's vaginal muscles tighten. Ejaculation is induced by the thrusting of the male's pelvis and the undulation of the female's cervix. The two become physically inseparable for anywhere from 10–30 minutes, during which period the male will ejaculate multiple times. After the initial ejaculation, the male may lift one of his legs over the female such that they are standing end-to-end; this is believed to be a defensive measure. The mating ordeal is repeated many times throughout the female's brief ovulation period, which occurs once per year per female, unlike female dogs, with whom estrus usually occurs twice per year_

Once he finished reading the paragraph he was in a state that was extremely rare for him to be in; shock. The description of the mating of these wolves was utterly scandalous. Was this some kind of futuristic pornography? Why would the girl have such a book? He set the book down and picked up the next one called _'A Coyote's Howl'_. He wondered if this book was like the last plus he was curious as to what exactly this coyote was.

He opened the book and began flipping through the pages. Based on the picture on the front a coyote was some sort of a dog but what kind? He stopped on a page that had a picture of two older dogs with three pups sitting in front of them and began to read what was underneath the picture.

_Coyotes are a monogamous species and it has been shown that mated pairs breed for life. Monogamy between a female and male coyote is an extended relationship, which is virtually exclusionary for purposes of copulation and raising offspring. The support of both parents is preferable in maintaining and defending the territory and retrieving food for the pups. However, if the alpha male is killed the alpha female is still able to raise the pups to maturity. This indicates that coyotes should be classified under facultative monogamy because the male isn't necessary for the pups survival. The female compensates for the loss of her mate by maintaining the territory and hunting for food for both herself and her pups. Even though the female takes over all tasks generally shared by the mated pair she isn't 100% efficient in making up to the loss of the alpha male. The increased responsibility takes its toll on the female and the pups. The female's health decreases due to the increase in energetically costly responsibilities. The female may also become immunosuppressed from malnutrition making her more vulnerable to natural parasites in the environment. In addition, the pups may be malnourished and underweight, have physical abnormalities, or suffer from ectoparasite infestation. Another major problem for a single female is the possibility of being ejected from her territory by an intruding coyote pair or pack. The female is able to keep up basic territory maintenance such as marking along the boarders but she is many times unable to actively defend her territory against intruders._

He was astonished once he finished reading. The female can survive without the male and without taking another mate; preposterous. How did she expect to survive without the male to take care of her and her pups? These coyotes were truly astounding creatures.

He decided right then and there that he was going to read all her books from beginning to end that night. He got comfortable and began to read the coyote book from the beginning.


	10. Chapter 10

Sesshoumaru sat back on his pillow looking at the stack of books on the floor in front of him with an idea as to what the little miko was up to. Every question that she had asked him since she came to the palace regarding his behavior came from the books found in her room. More specifically, the questions came from the book about the wolves.

Something in the back of his mind echoed a question he thought for sure he had forgotten: _'How is it that you and your beast are able to live as one but be two at the same time?'_ He wondered if that was what these books were all about. What he really needed was to get his hands on that notebook but where was it? She didn't have it on her when she went to dinner and Jaken searched her entire room for it coming up empty handed.

It was time to take control of the situation. He wanted to know what she was up to and decided that he didn't want to wait any longer. Besides, once he knew what she was up to he could make her squirm and that was something that he found immense pleasure in doing.

xx

Kagome stood at the desk horrified. Someone and she knew who had been in her room not only been in her room but took her stuff. The contents of her backpack were laid somewhat neatly on the floor around it, all her dog books were missing, and worst of all her box was gone too.

"The box. Why oh why did he have to take my box?" Kagome whispered dreadfully to the room.

This was it for her her life was over. Once Sesshoumaru got a hold of her box and saw what was inside he was going to kill her. No questions asked and no body to be found. He was going to melt her with his poison and leave her as nothing but a puddle of black bubbling goo.

Her research was about to be found out, her box was missing, and that meant Sesshoumaru either already knew or will soon know what she was doing. It was time to leave and do it without being caught.

_'How far is it from here to the well? At least two days maybe? Maybe a little less?'_ She wondered to herself.

She picked up her bag and quickly and quietly began to fill it back up. She didn't know how long ago it had been since Jaken the miserable little thief had been in her room but it definitely had to be during dinner. Which means that he took her stuff at some point during the last hour?

"Oh God I gotta go." She said in a panic. The sun was just about to set meaning that she would have to make her trip home during the night. She wasn't too concerned with this being she could make a pretty good barrier in order to keep evil filth away from her so long as they aren't human filth.

"He he I sound like Sesshoumaru. Human filth. God Kagome snap out of it!" She chastised herself as she slung her bag onto her shoulders and crept to the door. Quietly she pushed it open a crack and seeing that no one was around she tiptoed towards the front entrance.

She slipped through the door, which was the easy part. Now the hard part was getting through the front gate without the guards calling for Sesshoumaru. "Um hey Kei." Kagome gave a small wave at him. "You wouldn't mind letting me out of here would ya?"

Kei eyed her suspiciously. "And where would you be going this late at night young lady?"

Kagome glared at him. "It ain't late a night. Hell the sun hasn't even gone down yet." Kagome put her hands on her hips. "Besides it's not like I'm a prisoner or anything like that. I am a guest by my own request and I can come and go as I please."

Kei crossed his arms over his chest. "You are correct that you are not a prisoner but I can't in good conscience let you leave here on your own."

Kagome gave him her best _'I'm so cute smile' _as she responded to that. "Well then how about you escort me to where I need to go then your conscience will be clear and I will be gone."

Kei gave her a wicked grin. "Does Sesshoumaru know that you're leaving?"

Kagome was taken back for a second but quickly pulled herself together. "What? You expect him to stand on the door step and wave goodbye yelling I'll miss you?"

Kei chuckled at the image she put in his head. "Of course not but that doesn't answer my question. Does he know that you're leaving?"

"Well duh! If he didn't I wouldn't be here right now now would I?"

Copper eyes narrowed at the smart mouthed girl. "I can't let you leave unless Sesshoumaru gives me word that you are to depart."

Kagome stamped her foot into the ground. "What? Why can't I just leave? Better yet how about I turn you into a pile of purified demon ash and leave anyway?"

He gave her an evil grin. "So he doesn't know that you are leaving."

"He does so." She pouted. Why wouldn't he just let her leave? There had to be either another way out of here or another guard that would just let her out. "Listen here Kei. I want to leave and you are going to let me out of here right now or…" She raised her hand and surrounded it with her purifying pink light.

Kei just stood there not moving. "Miko you don't have it in you to do away with someone just because you don't get your way. Now go back to your room and call it a night."

Kagome turned and stopped off then stopped and turned towards the stubborn guard. "I will get out of here before the sun sets Kei! Just you watch me!"

He gave a snort. _'Oh I will watch you.'_ He thought smugly to himself.

Kagome sprinted off towards the back of the castle where the servants came and went. She was thoroughly excited to see that the small gate had been left open and made her way to it.

Just as she stepped through the open gate she slammed into something akin to a wall. She stepped back, shook her head, and looked up into eyes flashing in an evil predatory gleam. "Kei what the hell?" She was about to have a hissy fit and fall into it if she didn't get her way.

"Miko go back into the castle. I will not let you leave unless Sesshoumaru says that you are to go."

"Ok" She said as sweet as sugar then turned and walked off.

Kei narrowed his eyes at her. _'Ok my ass.'_ He snorted mentally. _'This is going to be a very long night.'_

xx

Kagome sat on the rock trying to catch her breath. "Damn that Kei! Why won't he just let me leave?" Every attempt she had made to leave he foiled and what was worse was he was actually enjoying himself. If she had the time she would tunnel her way out but of course he would catch her doing that as well.

"Every attempt? How could he know that I was buried at the bottom of that wagon?" She hissed.

Her problem was that she forgot that Kei was a demon a cat demon no less and as such it meant he knew all about being sly and sneaky. He anticipated her every move and beat her to it and loved the challenge she was giving him.

Kagome looked around the courtyard trying to see what her last options were. Only a few more hours until dawn which meant she was running out of time. She had one last idea and she prayed it would work.

xx

Kei stood at the gate and flung around at the sound of a scream behind him. He didn't know if he should laugh or be angry with the girl. There she stood with a petrified Jaken in one arm while she held a hand of purifying light in the other. "Alright Kei this is it. Let me out or you'll have frog legs for breakfast."

Jaken squawked at her threat as her hand drew closer to his chest.

"Miko this is your worst attempt yet. Put him down and let's call it a night. Hmm?" He arched a dark brow at her.

Kagome gritted her teeth together. "No! Let me out!"

Kei walked up to her and plucked the screaming toad out of her hands an dropped him to the dirt.

Once he was on the ground he scrambled to his feet and ran as fast as his little legs could. He was going to inform his lord of the wench's actions against him and finally have her thrown out.

Kei watched Jaken take off then put his arm around Kagome's shoulders and began to walk her back to the castle. "Ok my dear miko. You want to tell me what is going on. What did you do that makes you so desperate to leave all of a sudden?"

Kagome let out a sigh. "It's a long story."

Kei smiled down at her. "Well then we'll go to the kitchen and see what we can dig up for breakfast and then you can tell me what has you so wound up."

_'This is it. Sesshoumaru is going to kill me but at least I will have a full belly before he does.'_ She thought cynically to herself. "My last meal." She snorted causing Kei to chuckle.

xx

"Sesshoumaru-sama! Sesshoumaru-sama!"

Sesshoumaru narrowed his eyes at his study door waiting for the toad to make his hysterical appearance. He could never understand how the toad could have ever been the leader of an army. Especially when the little imp couldn't handle the simplest of issues on his own. Especially when it came to his young ningen ward,

Just as he suspected his study doors were thrown open with a squawking toad waving his arms frantically apparently trying to fly away from his troubles. "Jaken." Jaken hit the floor at the sound of his voice. "What is it?"

"My lord, it's that miko witch. She threatened to purify me if General Kei didn't let her leave."

Sesshoumaru raised an brow at that. "Get up and explain."

xx

Kei watched as Kagome sighed into her tea for the fifteenth time. "Well are you going to tell me what you did?"

Kagome looked at the demon. She knew she could confide in him as she pretty much did when she was there last. Actually he was so easy to talk to that he knew all about her life, her adventures, and the only one besides Sesshoumaru who knew where she really came from.

She sighed again. "Well it's like this. You remember when Sesshoumaru brought me here after his beast attacked me?"

Kei nodded at her as he chewed a bite of his fish.

"Well, when I went home I decided that I wanted to try and figure out the relationship between Sesshoumaru and his beast. You know how his beast can be one entity and Sesshoumaru another."

"What do you mean his beast being one entity and Sesshoumaru another?" He asked as he bit into a rice ball.

"Let me ask you this. Your inner beast does it talk to you and fight with you to get its way?" Kagome watched him intently. Why she never sit down as ask Kei these questions when she knew he was back was beyond her. She also had a feeling that with his power he was just like Sesshoumaru was with his beast two separate parts of a whole.

"I do talk with my beast but it's a contented beast. It doesn't argue with me or ask me a lot of questions and only comes out when I really need it to. For the most part it just naps a lot as cats do."

"That's what I mean; your beast is part of you but something separate as well. Don't you ever wonder how it is that you and your beast exist as one but be two at the same time?"

Kei placed fist to his chin and thought about it for a second. "Hmmm... I've never really thought about it but that is a good question. Maybe it's possible that because our beasts don't have the ability to fully make analytical decisions. So they are too much of a threat to be let loose and run free. So maybe they were put inside us so that we could control them and make conscience decisions as to when they are allowed to fight and feed."

Kagome tilted her head to the side. "Ok then Mr. Smarty Pants tell me this. How come demons like you and Sesshoumaru have beasts that have their own thoughts while some demons or half-demons know their beasts exist but they don't interact with it?"

Kei let off a small chuckle. "Oh you mean like Inuyasha?" He then laughed at the dirty look that she was giving him. "Most likely it's because they don't have the power to control their beast properly. If their beast were to ever get free it could cause serious damage without conscience thought. Didn't Inuyasha's beast take control of him once?"

She nodded at him.

"And it went on a killing spree right?" He arched a brow highly at her.

"Yea."

"There you have it then. His beast was out of control and he couldn't control it. So with it being that strong it has to be buried deep within him so as to not be able to take over, or to speak with him and try to trick him in order to be let loose."

Kagome regarded him for a moment that actually made a lot of sense. "So how come when you let your beast free you change into its form where demons like Inuyasha and some other full blooded demons don't?" Kagome poured more tea for the both of them while he thought about her question.

"Because my beast only knows what it is. If it were to take over me without changing, it wouldn't know how to fight, walk, or anything else that this form can do. It is a cat and only knows how to do what cats do, only it's a little smarter than an average cat." He watched her open her mouth to ask her next question but stopped her before she could. "As for full blooded demons and hanyous like Inuyasha their beasts know how to use their demon bodies so they have no need to change if they don't want to."

"So does that mean that beasts like Inuyasha's and lower leveled youkai are smarter than yours or Sesshoumaru's beast?" Kagome sat back sipping her tea trying to hide the smile that Kei's glare was giving her.

"No it does not." He bit out. "It just means that they are too stupid to know that their beast form is stronger than their human form." He narrowed his eyes upon the smirk she was trying and failing to hide. "Now lets get back to what has you so upset that you feel the need to leave so suddenly?" That wiped the smirk from her face in the most pleasant of ways.

Kagome gnawed at her bottom lip then took a deep breath and told him of all her research up to this point and what she had discovered thus far.

Kei sat back and smirked deeply at her. "So you think that because you have been researching Sesshoumaru and his beast he's going to punish you for it."

Kagome nodded her head. "That's not all either."

"You mean there's more?"

"Yes." She sighed again. "The box it's going to cause my death."

Kei tilted his head to the side in question. "The box? What box?"

xx

Sesshoumaru wasn't normally one for eavesdropping but based on the girl's behavior since her arrival, sometimes demon lords had to sink to lows such as listening in on others conversations. Besides this conversation was more than worth listening to for now he finally knew why she was here.

However what he couldn't figure out why she just didn't come right out and tell him about wanting to research him? He wouldn't have cared and would have been more forthcoming with his answers to her endless and now in hindsight not so strange questions.

Now this box of hers was a different story altogether; what was she intending to do with the items in the box? She was right to worry for if it that thing was for him he just might kill her.

xx

Kei let out a shocked laugh. "You what? Why would you want to give something like that to his beast?"

"I thought it was cute and figured that something as big and frightening as his beast needed something to take the fright factor down a notch." She whined at him.

Kei knew that Sesshoumaru was listening in on their conversation and tried so hard to keep from laughing out loud but couldn't help it. This was just too damn funny.

"It's not funny! He has the box and now he's going to kill me for it because you wouldn't let me leave!" She banged her fist on the table.

"I don't know that he would kill you for it but he might just make you suffer for awhile."

Kagome huffed. "That is why I wanted to leave. I mean really; who wants to suffer at the hands of Sesshoumaru? When he's angry there is no getting through to him." Just like Inuyasha she thought but would never say that out loud. Castle walls always had ears especially little green toady ears which she hoped weren't listening to her now.

"Sesshoumaru is reasonable he wouldn't kill you just because you wanted to give his beast a gift." He chuckled again. "No matter what it was you wanted to give him."

"Says you. You've known him longer than me and you have always been on the same side as him. Have you ever had his poison blown at you in order to kill you?"

"No I haven't but…"

"But nothing." She held up a silencing hand in front of his face. "He tied to kill me because I pulled his fathers sword out and I didn't even try to use it against him. Well I did threaten to cut him but as if I could really do anything to him. Then he tried to kill me for it." She huffed at him.

Kei laughed at her again. "Kami miko you are good for one thing that for sure."

Kagome narrowed her eyes upon him. "And what's that?"

"Always good for a laugh." He ducked just in time to miss the teacup flying at his head. "Calm down, there's no need to throw things at me."

"Jerk!" She crossed her arms over her chest and continued to glare at him.


	11. Chapter 11

So two quick things. One; I own Kei so keep you little mits off my kitty. Two; if you haven't seen it already Sugaro0 drew a pic of Kei for me. You can find it on her DeviantArt or on mine RonLyn or if you do a search for Keva's Char Kei Sugaro0's da comes up in the top three and it will take you right to it. So that's it hope you enjoy; much love for you all. Keva

xx

Sesshoumaru smirked to himself.

He had forgotten all about that. _'I'll cut you.'_ She was right as if she could cut him or do anything else to him and it did take all he had to keep from laughing at her that day.

Yet, he couldn't keep the smirk from playing across his lips from her meager little threat.

xx

Kagome placed her hands on the sides of her head. "Oh Kami Kei what am I going to do?" She then looked up and glared at him. "If Sesshoumaru kills or tortures me it's on you head for not letting me leave!"

Kei let out a sigh. "Sesshoumaru is not going to kill or torture you. He may taunt and tease you but no death or maiming."

"How do you know?" She questioned suspiciously.

"Just trust me on this."

Kagome huffed at him. "Yea that's easy for you to say you're not the one who's going to suffer his wrath."

"Humph." He grunted at her. "And what do you suppose would have happened to me if I let you leave?" He leaned across the table. "What? You think he would have said good job Kei keep up the good work."

"Well… no but he…" She trailed off.

He sat back and went back to eating his fish. "Don't worry about it miko everything will be fine."

"Feh." She hissed.

xx

Sesshoumaru did let off a small chuckle at her little Inuyasha imitation. Before he turned and headed back to his study. He couldn't wait for her to approach him it was going to be the most entertainment he has had in a good little while.

He decided that he would act as if he didn't know anything for now and really make her squirm. However, he was going to punish her for trying to sneak out without permission.

xx

Sesshoumaru sat at his desk looking at the cat demon standing in front of him. "Where did the miko go?"

"She has returned to her room to get some sleep. It has been a long night for her and her escape… I mean leaving attempts." Kei smirked at the memories of her trying to outsmart him.

Sesshoumaru placed his elbows on the desk and locked his fingers together. "You seem to be close to the miko."

Kei smiled at him. "As you have heard I'm sure."

"I'm sure. Tell me Kei exactly what are your feelings for the girl?"

Kei stepped back in shock. Did Sesshoumaru think that he had romantic feelings for the girl? The thought kind of made his stomach turn. "She is like a sister to me and nothing more. She feels comfortable enough around me to confide her secrets to me such as where she really comes from."

Sesshoumaru's brows raised up highly at that piece of news. "So she told you that she comes from the future? Did she also tell you how she is able to travel between the two times?"

Kei nodded at him with a smirk.

"Hmm very interesting. The girl is rather peculiar."

"That she is." Kei said as he kneeled down on the pillows in front of the desk. He could tell that Sesshoumaru was going to employ him into his plans to get revenge on the girl and he wouldn't miss it for the world. Hell maybe he could even hook the two of them up. "So what's the plan?"

Sesshoumaru arched a brow. "Plan?"

"Don't pretend with me. I have known you for far too long. You have plans too get back at the miko and I want to know what they are."

Sesshoumaru smirked. "You are correct. I do have plans for the miko, but for the moment I am going to act as if I have no knowledge of what she is doing." He narrowed his ambers on the neko. "And you would do well to keep silent on the matter as well."

Kei ran his claws across his chin in thought dismissing the threat as he always did. "So how do I play in all of this?"

Sesshoumaru smirked at him. "How very perceptive of you. However, now is not the time."

Kei let off a grunt then dismissed the subject. "So you want to show me that box of hers that she's so sure you're going to kill her for?"

Sesshoumaru opened the drawer, withdrew the box, and tossed it across the desk to the cat demon. He knew he was going to be sorry for giving it to him but that was the way with the two of them. Always sharing everything no matter how humiliating it was. It kind of went along with the both of them being punished when they were young whether they were both involved in the misdeed or not.

Kei picked it up, opened the lid, and almost fell over laughing. "Now I see why she wanted to leave so badly."

"Indeed." Sesshoumaru snorted.

"So are you going to let her use it?" He asked with a chuckle.

Sesshoumaru didn't say anything he just glared at his general.

"I'll take that as a no. So I suppose your beast doesn't want it either. It is for him after all." He said with a humorous glint in his eyes.

Sesshoumaru's expression didn't change he just continued to glare at his general suffering this like so many other things he had suffered in his life with Kei.

Kei pulled out a piece of paper and read what it said aloud. "Pretty puppy kit. Make your puppy the most glamorous dog on the block. He/She will be the envy of every dog around." He began to laugh in earnest. "Well looks like you're going to be the envy of every inu around." He began to pull the contents out of the box. "Lets see here, we have pink and blue bows, two charms one pink heart and one blue bone, they both say puppy love." He looked up at Sesshoumaru and grinned at him. "Puppy love huh?"

Sesshoumaru let off a growl but that didn't faze the neko it never did.

"Hmm what is this?" He pulled out two bottles. "Puppy nail polish? Must be some kind of paint for your nails." He held them out to Sesshoumaru. "Do you want pink or blue?"

Sesshoumaru didn't answer instead he just opted for his death glare.

"Ok then." He set the bottles down. "Well this is interesting." He looked up and cocked an brow at him. "Sparkles; well it says glitter spray on the bottles. To give your dog a shiny coat and a sparkle finish; spray lightly to damp coat. So how bout it Sesshoumaru? Do you want to sparkle in pink or blue?"

Sesshoumaru growled in a low warning.

Kei ignored him and continued going through the box. "Oh look isn't this cute." He pulled out two little hats, one pink, and one blue, with holes in the top for the ears to go through. "I don't think they'd fit you. They look kind of small." He placed them on the desk and continued going through the box. "Well, well, well, what do we have here? They kind of look like pants but without the legs to them." He held up two pairs of puppy training underwear. "Oh look white lace on this one, and... awww top dog." He turned the blue ones towards Sesshoumaru so that he could see the stitched writing on the back.

"That will be enough Kei." He growled; his beast was getting irritated with the cat mocking him and he desperately wanted free to rip the kitten to shreds.

Kei shook his head. "Wait there's one more thing in here." He pulled out a book. "Training you puppy to be the best it can be. Looks like you're going to be trained to be the best you can be." He said with a snort from trying to hold in his laughter. "Now I wonder should I have let her leave like she wanted to."

Sesshoumaru raised a mocking brow at him. "I could always send her home and have her bring one of those back for you. Then you could be the prettiest kitty around."

Kei smirked at him. "Well then we'll be the prettiest two youkai to ever walk the land. I can see it now. Ningen and youkai alike would throw themselves at our feet paying homage to our prettiness. They would build shrines in our honor and worship our prettiness for all eternity. What a dream." He mockingly swooned.

Sesshoumaru looked at his general and wondered at his sanity. How the cat found amusement in things that should be an insult was always rather strange. "If it suits you then so be it. However, this Sesshoumaru has no desire to be pretty."

Kei leaned across the desk grinning mischievously at his long time friend. "Well from what I hear from several demoness' is that they consider you to be rather pretty already. As far as I can tell this…" He waved his hand over the contents of the pretty puppy kit. "can only enhance your prettiness."

Sesshoumaru gave a snort and slid his hand across the desk. He opened the desk drawer and scooped the stuff in then closed it. "Now, enough with the box." He got up, went to the bookshelf, grabbed a stack of books, then dropped them in front of the neko and sat back down.

Kei tilted his head. "And what are these?"

"Those were found in the miko's room."

Kei looked up at him in shock. "You went through her room? Isn't that kind of beneath you?"

Sesshoumaru narrowed his ambers deeply. "Yes and it was Jaken that found them."

Kei picked them up one at a time flipping through them. "So what are they for?"

"I believe she is trying to match my beast up to one of those dogs."

Kei looked up from the book. "Have you read them?"

"Yes"

"Well?"

"Well what?"

Kei let out an annoyed sigh. "Which one of these is your beast closest to?"

"None of them. My beast is a breed all its own."

Kei snorted at that. "Aren't we a little egocentric" He drawled mockingly. "I believe and correct me if I'm wrong but isn't your beast the same kind as your father's and mother's; who might I point out is still alive."

"That will be enough from you." Sesshoumaru growled coolly.

"Oh very well." He waved a dismissive hand though the air. "So tell me what are you going to do about our little miko?"

Sesshoumaru drummed his fingers on the desk in thought. "I'm not entirely sure however she does need to be punished for trying to leave without my consent."

Kei arched a brow at that. "Oh take it easy on her. You have to remember that you have tried to kill her before and she figured that you would do so again because she wanted to make you pretty. To her you are a rather sensitive being who can't take a joke."

He glared coldly at the neko for a long silent moment trying to mentally wipe the smirk from Kei's face. "I don't plan on bringing harm to the girl. I just want to see her squirm for awhile."

Kei got a sly grin. "Really; and how are you going to go about that?"

Sesshoumaru grinned evilly a grin he would only ever let Kei see since the cat was the only other being in the world who knew he had a playful side to him. "I have my ways."

Kei shook his head. "Things around here are about to get very interesting; very interesting indeed."

xx

Kei and Sesshoumaru were discussing the business of the castle when the door to his study flung open with a loud crashing noise. They both looked up to see a very tired irate girl holding a petrified Jaken by the back of the neck. She held the toad out in front of her and in a malicious whisper posed her question to the demon lord. "Sesshoumaru did you order this little green piece of crap with legs to enter my room and go through my things in order to find my notebook?"

Kei turned towards his lord trying to bite back the laughter building up in him knowing that Sesshoumaru had been caught.

Sesshoumaru raised a perfect silver brow at her. "And if I did?"

Kagome being exhausted as she was was in no mood for his little lordly games. She had been awake for over twenty-four hours and she was a woman on the edge. She glared at him and in a perfect shot putist throw, hurled the squawking toad at his master, hitting him dead in the chest. Sesshoumaru grabbed the toad and tossed him into the nearest wall without breaking the stare with the girl.

Kagome glared harder at him. "If I so much as see a silver Sesshoumaru hair or sniff a single stench of toad in my room I will purify you straight to hell with a grin on my face. AND if I do not get my things back by noon tomorrow I will begin to purify everything within reach. You got that Sesshoumaru?" She sneered at him.

Sesshoumaru gave her a curt nod causing her to slam the door shut and storm off to her room.

Kei finally released the laughter that he had been holding within him. "Well, now we know how she can be when she's been awake for too long."

"Indeed" Sesshoumaru eyed his guard. "You will return the miko's things to her."

Kei stopped laughing and narrowed his copper eyes at him. "Oh no you don't. You took her stuff now you must face the consequences."

Sesshoumaru caught the movement of his retainer out of the corner of his eye. "Jaken will return her things."

"You were evil as a child and even more so now. Your daddy would be so proud." He teased with a shake of his head.

Sesshoumaru turned his eyes to the scrolls before him. "Do you not have guards to order around? I think we will have inspection in one hour." He looked back up at his general. "They had better be in perfect order upon my arrival."

Kei smirked wickedly at Sesshoumaru. "You just hate the fact that I know more about you than you would like. Maybe after inspection I will have a talk with the miko about a pup I once knew who always got in trouble with his father for the pranks he would pull on the guards."

Sesshoumaru growled at his general. "Leave. Inspection at sunset. Oh and if I hear of you speaking with the miko about our childhood I will inform her of the time you got caught with your pants down."

Kei got up and sauntered out of the room but before leaving, he threw over his shoulder. "I do hope you get purified to the pits of hell before sunset."

Sesshoumaru could hear his general laughing all the way down the hall and let out an annoyed growl. He would kill the cat if it were not for the fact they were more like siblings than anything. Siblings who every other day were in trouble for one thing or another.

Like the one time they filled all the guards sword sheathes with warm honey in the middle of winter. Not only did they get a good beating from his father they also got one from Kei's father as well. They thought for sure that they would never walk again twenty hits with the broad side of a sword on the rear from each man. Then they had to clean the honey from all the sword sheathes which were then thrown away because there was no way to get all the honey out of them. Why the just couldn't throw them away to begin with was beyond him.

How bad he wanted to kill his father at that time.

Sesshoumaru snorted and went back to work on the treaties on his desk. Trying to ignore the memories of the trouble that he and Kei would get into during their childhood played through his mind.


	12. Chapter 12

"Inuyasha did you find out where Kagome is?" Sango questioned worriedly.

Inuyasha glared at the demon slayer. "If I knew where she was do you think I would be here looking at your ugly face?"

Sango went from worry to rage in an instant at the hanyou's insult. She grabbed her hiraikotsu and swept it under the hanyou's feet while yelling sit at him. "See I can subdue him just as easy as Kagome can." She looked over at Miroku smugly.

Miroku nodded at her with a smirk. "Yes very effective. But this isn't going to help us find Kagome."

"Maybe…. Sess….Sesshoumaru…. kidnapped….h…her… for the…. Tessaiga." Shippou gasped out between fits of laughter at Inuyasha's misfortune.

The group turned and stared at the little kit in shock;that was a possibility that they never thought of.

"Feh Sesshoumaru would never kidnap a human especially one like Kagome."

Sango again yelled sit at the hanyou as she knocked his feet out from under him. "Inuyasha it's possible. I mean we've tried everywhere else." She bit out.

"I agree with Sango Inuyasha. That's the only place left for her to be."

Inuyasha picked himself up off the floor of the hut. "Fine! We'll go to Sesshoumaru's and you will see that she ain't there and we wasted time traveling all the way there for nothing."

"It's a risk we're willing to take." Miroku said just before a hand slapped his face.

"Damn hentai!" Sango yelled as she stormed out of the hut with Kirara and Shippou hot on her heels.

xx

Kagome was awoken by the sound of shuffling feet in her room. Turing her head in the direction of the sound she saw a defeated, frightened toad replacing her things where he had found them. She pushed herself up on her elbows and watched him. "Jaken"

The little toad let out a loud croak in fear as he dropped the books he had in his hands to the floor. He turned his bobbly yellow eyes to the girl in the bed.

"Jaken what are you doing?" She asked as she covered a yawn with her hand.

"I'm…I'm…replacing your things as you requested." He said as he bowed to her.

"Very well" She said as she covered another yawn. "Jaken, tell your master that tonight after dinner we will discuss his unlordly behavior." She then laid down and went back to sleep.

The toad stuttered out what sounded like a _'hai'_ then finished putting her things away and quickly left the room running straight to his master.

xx

Sesshoumaru and Kagome, plus one guest, who wouldn't leave, sat at the table trying to stare one another down.

Kagome was the first to break the silence. "Ok Sesshoumaru, I'm sure that you have figured out why I'm here. So how about you just work with me on this and it will go a lot smoother for both of us."

Sesshoumaru a brow at her. "What makes you so sure I know anything?"

Kagome made a _'how stupid do you think I am'_ face at him and then pointed to Kei. "As if he didn't already tell you."

Sesshoumaru turned his attentions back to his favorite invisible spot across the room. "The neko has told me nothing." He stated smoothly.

Kagome turned to stare at the cat across from her.

Kei just shrugged a dismissive shoulder at her leaving it up to her to decide what he did or didn't say to Sesshoumaru. He then cut his eyes from Sesshoumaru to her, then to the door, trying to convey how Sesshoumaru knew about what she was up to.

Kagome furrowed her brows at him trying to figure out what was wrong with him. She held her hands up to her sides and mouthed _'what?'_ at him. All he did was roll his eyes at her and went back to shifting his eyes between her, Sesshoumaru, and the door.

"Are you two quite through?" Sesshoumaru questioned coolly causing both to jump at the sound of his voice.

Kagome just stared at him blankly like she was innocent to all things going on around her.

Kei on the other hand stared at the inu plainly. "What?" He questioned in a manner signifying that he had no idea as to what Sesshoumaru was talking about.

"Fine." Kagome grunted out. "The simple fact of the matter is that you know why I am here. Sooo… what are you going to do to me?" She didn't want to bring up her pretty puppy kit to him in hopes that he had forgotten about it but she highly doubted it. Sesshoumaru wasn't the kind of being that forgot things like that.

"Nothing"

Kagome's jaw hit the floor. "No, no, no. You will do something to punish me. I just know it."

Sesshoumaru turned his cool gaze onto her. "That is where you are wrong miko. I will do nothing to you."

Kagome shook her head thinking that she was dreaming. "I must be dreaming." She whispered to herself.

"This is no dream girl." He reached over and stuck a claw into her arm.

"Ow! Waddya do that for?" She questioned with a huff as she rubbed her arm.

"To show you that you are not dreaming." His attention went back to his spot across the room. "You may leave now."

Kagome narrowed her eyes at the demon lord. "Oh no you don't! You are going to tell me what you're going to do about me and my research."

"I have told you already and I do not repeat myself." That little statement earned a grunt from the male sitting on his left side.

Kei opened his mouth to reply to that statement but closed it after a look of _'say a word and die'_ from Sesshoumaru.

"So you're just going to let me continue my research just like that? Bull, your up to something I know it." She looked over at the neko sitting across from her trying to see if he knew anything. She decided that she was going to have to get Kei alone and find out exactly what Sesshoumaru was up to.

As if reading her thoughts Sesshoumaru cut her off. "The neko will tell you nothing and yes I will let you continue your research."

Kagome not being the dumb girl most took her for figured that Kei knew something about Sesshoumaru. Something that Sesshoumaru didn't want his general to accidentally, purposely tell her about. Oh yea she was going to get Kei alone and interrogate him. Too bad she didn't bring any cat nip with her but maybe the neko would like the dog jerky and she could use it to bribe him for information. She plastered her most innocent grin on her face. "Very well. I will see you two later." She stood, bowed to each one, and left the room, leaving a feeling of dread in her wake.

"Well, that went over nicely." Kei snorted.

Sesshoumaru, didn't remove his eyes from his spot. "She is up to something. Beware for she is very tricky when it comes to getting what she wants."

"Yes, I know." Kei sighed; he felt that somehow he was going to get caught in a battle between the lord and the miko and he was going to be the one to pay. "So you're not going to punish her then?"

A wicked smirk played across the demon lord's face. "Her punishment has already started."

Kei looked over at Sesshoumaru wide eyed. "What do you mean it's already started? What is her punishment exactly?"

He kept the smirk on his face as he responded. "Nothing"

Kei did not get it. What did he mean nothing? How can you punish someone with nothing?" Alright you sly dog; explain."

Sesshoumaru turned his head to his general. "I do believe that it is time to run the guard. I will be monitoring their skills. If they do not pass my approval they shall train all through the night."

Kei narrowed his eyes. "If…"

"If you speak one word to the miko about our childhood you will pay the price for disobedience. Now go." Sesshoumaru cut him off.

Kei got up and mumbled something about stuck up puppy dogs and left the room.

Sesshoumaru grinned to himself he was going to kill two birds with one stone. The miko for sneaking around and Kei… well just because it's been awhile since he had made his general suffer. Yes the great ice lord was going to do something that everyone thought to be beneath him. He was going to play and his beast was looking forward to the excitement as well especially punishing the cat for just merely being a cat.

xx

_Notebook Entry: Day Four (Day three was lost due to a sneaky thieving demon lord)_

_In the last two days I have learned that there a just things that Sesshoumaru has to learn the hard way. Case and point; the shock collar which he **stole** from my room. (He acts all high and mighty but it's obvious he's a dirty dog under all that white silk and silver hair.)_

_Anyway back to the lesson he didn't learn from the shock collar. The first time he touched it he grabbed it so that his fingers touched the metal studs shocking his own self. However the first time wasn't enough; he had to touch it two more times in the exact same way earning two more shocks._

_Now normal canines wouldn't learn the first time or the second or even the third but this is Sesshoumaru. He boasts that he is the superior being to all therefore you would think he would learn after just once. Which makes me wonder..._

_If Sesshoumaru in demon form didn't learn after the first few times how long would his beast take to learn the same lesson? Did his beast grasp an understanding of the collar and try to get Sesshoumaru to leave it be?_

_I will have to question him about his feelings towards the collar and get him to tell me how his beast felt it about it as well. Then I will do a comparative study to see how fast a demon learns against his inner beast._

_That brings me to something Kei said. He thinks that a beast is put inside a demon because its unable to make logical decision beyond the here and now. So I wonder if I ask Sesshoumaru or Kei to ask their beast a question about how it thinks would they get an answer?_

Kagome tapped her pen against the page of her notebook as she stared down at the entry. She knew that both Kei and Sesshoumaru interacted with their inner beasts and to an extent conversed with them. Which made her wonder; if she could get Sesshoumaru or Kei to transform into their beast and she talked to it would it understand what SHE is saying or did it only understand their own animal noises?

That was another question she was going to have to put to Sesshoumaru or Kei and see what they thought. It was quite possible that their beasts only spoke its own language such as dogs barking or cats meowing.

Well there was no time like the present to find out. It was time for a full out interrogation of Sesshoumaru. This time maybe she would get some answers and she wouldn't have to play the lies but truth game with him; now that he knew what she was doing. Plus it was getting exhausting trying to keep lies and truths intermingled to keep him from finding out what she was doing.

She looked to the side when she heard the sound of shuffling feet outside her door and knew instantly who it was walking by. She jumped up, ran to the door, and jerked it open causing Jaken to shriek in fright.

"Hey Jaken."

Jaken stared up at the woman fearfully as she stared down at him. He was sure he was going to be kicked, stepped on, thrown, or used as another test subject. "Don't hurt me!" He squawked as he cowered down before her.

"I'm not going to hurt you." She kneeled down in front of him. "Look I'm sorry for hurting you and all that but you shouldn't have gone through my stuff even if that's what Sesshoumaru wanted."

He stared at her like what she was saying was absolutely scandalous. "Disobey Sesshoumaru-sama? NEVER!"

She gently glided her finger over the knot on his head. "Yes but sometimes disobedience is a lot less painful and little white lies even more so."

He couldn't believe that she was suggesting that he lie to his lord; he would never! Then again maybe just maybe he would be less likely to take sudden flight due to swift kick by Sesshoumaru's boot.

"Anyway Jaken I was wondering something about you." She started as she stood back up.

He stared up at her wide eyed. Him? She was wondering about him? Why would she bother? No one ever thought about him... well Rin thought about him and called him her friend.

"As a demon do you have an inner beast like Sesshoumaru? I mean do you transform into something else when the need arises?"

He shook his head. "No this is all I ever am."

"Oh so you don't have in inner beast then; at all?" She drew her brows as she stared down at him.

"No; nothing like that either. My kind deals heavily in magic to make up what we lack in physical strength." He said proudly and stood a little taller.

"Interesting." She nodded down at him. "So I wonder then; does that mean your magical qualities are more powerful than Sesshoumaru's?" She drew her brows deeply. "Wait does Sesshoumaru even use magic?"

"Sesshoumaru-sama has no need of magic." Jaken pointed out. "All his power comes from his inner youkai."

Now she was really confused. Sesshoumaru wasn't magical but his beast was? She sighed deeply as she stared down at the little toad. "Alright come in here so you can tell me everything."

Jaken began shaking his head and took a step back as his eyes widened hugely. "Iie!"

She nearly huffed but caught herself. _'Flies with honey.'_ She thought as she stared down at him. "I'm not going to hurt you; miko's promise." She smiled charmingly or as charmingly as one could who was trying to entice a little green toad. "I just want to talk to you and ask you some questions. That's it."

He took a tentative step forwards unsure if this was some kind of trick or something.

She sighed again. "We'll leave the door open and you can stand close to it if that will make you feel more comfortable."

"Hai" He nodded and slowly walked into the room when she turned and walked over to the desk. He really hoped this wasn't some kind of sick miko trick and he wasn't going to end up with another knot on his head.


	13. Chapter 13

Well after like forever here's the next chapter. It may come across as me trying to rush things but I promise you I'm not. I have a plan I swear it. So hope you enjoy. Much love for you all. Keva

xx

Jaken paced the bedroom in thoughtful contemplation wracking his brain trying to remember. He had been in employ to his lord for a long long time and he couldn't remember EVERYTHING. "Iie." He finally stopped and stared at her. "If Sesshoumaru-sama ever howled at the moon in his true form I've never seen him do it."

"Darn." Kagome muttered and noted it down in her journal then looked back at the toad. "Okay have you ever heard him howl or make any noise in his true form?"

As much as he thought the miko to be completely brainless she was turning out to be a lot smarter than he ever gave her credit for. She had explained to him in great detail what she was doing and his own curious mind wanted to find out the answer to her questions too. Maybe just maybe if he understood his lord better he would be less abused by the taiyoukai.

"No." He shook his head. "I have never seen him in his true form."

"Really?!" Kagome stared at him wide eyed. "I would have thought for sure you would have at least once." She nodded at him. "I mean you've been with him for a long time; haven't you?"

"Hai but Sesshoumaru-sama does not like to set his beast free." He nodded curtly. "It tries to take control."

"Interesting." Kagome stared at him. "I wonder why it wants to be in control all the time. I mean it's not very smart in the grand scheme of things."

"It is a beast." Jaken nodded. "I believe it only wants to do what beasts do."

"I guess." She nodded at him thoughtfully. "But even as a beast it's still a dog and I just want to know what kind and how is it a beast and a man can live as one yet be two things at the same time. It just doesn't make sense." Her eyes suddenly went wide. "I mean that dog is huge," she waved her arms out around her. "where does it go when Sesshoumaru pulls it back in?"

Jaken just stared at her wide eyed and head spinning. He had never once thought about such things and now that he was he wanted answers too.

"He and Kei both say they talk to their beasts so it has to be inside them somewhere," she looked at the little kappa expectantly like he knew the answer. "right?"

"I would assume so." He nodded. "Perhaps it just shrinks in size to fit inside them."

Kagome stared at him with brows furrowed. "Ya know that is quite possible." She nodded. "But even if that's what happens where do they keep it? I mean like a hair on your head, a fingernail, or what? Where is it?!"

"I don't know." Jaken shook his head.

Kagome sighed deeply. "Well I'll just have to ask them and find out." She gathered up her notebook and stood up. "If you find anything out let me know." She nodded at him. "I'm going to go ask Sesshoumaru right now."

xx

"Inside." Sesshoumaru answered simply.

"Inside?" Kagome questioned with brows drawn deeply. "Where inside? In your heart? Your head? Your spleen? Where? Where does it sit and how can it fit inside you when it's SOOO big?"

Sesshoumaru sighed through his nose. Really he knew the answer to the questions she asked and decided to give her her answers so she would stop hounding him with these silly little questions of hers. Though if he did give her her answers then she was bound to return to her group of friends.

Then again she was bound to return eventually anyway seeing as how as the miko of the shikon no tama she had to gather it and put it back together. Which was the biggest reason for him deciding not to play with her any longer and to get her back to her duties. The longer she stayed here bothering him the closer Naraku came to fulfilling his goals and bringing the world into the darkness he so craved.

Not to mention that his idiot sibling was spotted headed this way screaming Kagome's name and cursing his.

"Very well miko I will tell you what you want to know but it will cost you." His ambers narrowed just the slightest.

Kagome matched the stare he was giving her. "Cost me what exactly?" She questioned suspiciously.

He moved his eyes from hers to the notebook in her hand and back again. "The book for your answer."

"Not on your life." She hugged her notebook to her chest tightly. "I said when I was done with it you could see it and the sooner you tell me what I want to know the sooner you can see it."

He was no fool he knew how to play this game. He had centuries on her, she could not win against him. "Very well, the whelp should be here by nightfall please have your things ready to leave." He nodded curtly knowing full well she wasn't going to just leave with his idiot brother.

"What? Inuyasha? Here? Tonight?" She questioned his back wide eyed.

"Is that not what I said." He answered smoothly. "Now go and gather your things and say your goodbyes." He looked over his shoulder at her. "I do not wish to have him here any longer than necessary." With a curt nod at her he began walking away.

"Wait!" She ran up to him and grabbed his sleeve.

He stopped, looked down at the small hand holding his clothing, then moved his eyes up and locked them on her widened browns. Really he should say something about a lowly human such as herself touching him however that wouldn't get him that book.

"Alright I'll make a deal with you." She stared up at him hopefully. "Sit down with me and answer all and I mean ALL my questions and the book is yours."

Oh she was really putting him to the test. Could he really stand to answer all her insufferable questions especially when he wouldn't answer them the first time she asked them? With an inward groan to himself for what he was about to do he gave her a curt nod. "Very well."

"Really?" She beamed up at him though he couldn't see her do so as she followed him down the hall to his study.

"Yes you have a duty to fulfill and staying here bothering me with your inane questions is preventing you from doing so."

"Hey!" She scowled as she moved to kneel on the pillow by his desk as he lowered himself onto his opposite her. "They are not inane. This is research and the people want answers to these questions." She nodded.

"What people?" He arched a silver brow at her. "You are the only one who ever asked such things therefore this is only to sate your own curiosity."

"No I'm going to publish my findings in my own time as a guide to fiction writers who want to write about mythical creatures." She beamed at him. "The truth shall be known even if I'm about the only one who will know it's true."

"Mythical creatures?" He scowled just the slightest.

Kagome shifted and frowned. "Yea… well… you see there really aren't any demons in my time or if there are no one know who or where they are."

"And why not." He demanded not liking that at all.

She shrugged and shook her head. "I don't know. I mean I really haven't tried to find out if there are any or where they are. With being too busy trying to take care of business here in this time and school in my time and all."

"On your next return home you will find out." He ordered.

"I can't." She frowned at him. "Like I said I'm too busy."

His ambers narrowed upon her. "Yet you have time to sit around here pestering me with questions about my beast." He answered coolly.

She chuckled nervously at that. "Alright, alright, point taken." She nodded. "Next time I'm home I'll try to find out and let you know. Now," her eyes sparkled excitedly. "about my questions you said you'd answer." She got her pen ready and opened her notebook.

Sesshoumaru sighed inwardly to himself getting ready for the longest afternoon of his life. "Begin." He ordered wanting to get his over with as soon as possible.

"Yay!" She squealed and settled herself more comfortably as she asked her first question.

xx

"I have answered all your questions now you will hand over your book." He growled.

"But…" she whined. "if I give it to you know I won't be able to use it for reference when I write up my summary?"

"You should have thought of that before you made your agreement with me." His ambers narrowed deeply.

She hugged her notebook tightly to her chest. "I swear I'll give it to you I just need to make copies first." She nodded her head vigorously trying to get him to agree with her.

"Iie." He reached out and snatched the book from her bosom. "You made an agreement and you will stand by it."

Kagome pouted not unlike a five year old. "Well can I have it back after you're done?"

"I will consider it after I have read it." He nodded curtly. "Now you will ready yourself for the half-breed's arrival. I do not wish to have him here any longer than necessary."

She wrinkled her nose at that not really wanting to leave. She liked living there with him and the thought of going back and running across the country side hunting down jewel shards made her feel ill. "Hey Sesshoumaru, I was thinking that maybe instead of trying to finish the jewel and killing Naraku with Inuyasha that maybe you and Kei could help me instead?" She looked up at him pleadingly. "I think with you two it'll get done quicker and I'd be a lot less likely to be injured in the process."

"No." He turned from her in a swirl of white silk. "You made your vow to the hanyou and you will fulfill it."

"Yes but," she aimed for his over inflated ego. "if I'm with Inuyasha it's more likely that he will get to be the one who kills Naraku; not you." She very nearly smirked when he paused in returning to his seat at his desk.

"I will kill the vile hanyou and no other." He growled then settled himself back in his seat. "No leave me and go ready yourself as I have ordered."

"You're such a jerk." She huffed then turned on her heel and stormed out of his office.

He snorted at her retreating figure then opened her book and went about the task of finding out what was really on her mind and the absolute REAL reason she wanted to stay with him.

xx

"And what has you so wound up as if I had to ask." Kei smirked at the irate girl.

"It's that... that… pompous ass that's what!" She growled.

He shook his head. "Why am I not surprised? So what was it this time; he look at you wrong or did he refuse to answer your never ending questions?"

"No." She huffed at the neko. "He sat down with me and answered every single one of my questions… well everyone but one." She scowled. "But that's not the problem. He's making me leave!" She stared wide eyed at him. "Can you believe it?"

"Yes I can actually." He nodded and ran his claws over his chin. "In fact he informed me this morning that you would be leaving upon the arrival of the hanyou." He smirked. "However don't be upset about it you do have a duty to perform and you can always come back and visit."

"That's just it," she sighed. "I want to fulfill my duty but between you and me I think it would get done a lot quicker with you and Sesshoumaru helping me." She nodded at him.

"Most likely." He agreed. "But it's not our responsibility. We have no need for the jewel only the need to be rid of the evil that plagues our lands."

"Yes but getting the jewel means getting rid of the evil that plagues your lands." She snorted. "The quicker the jewel gets completed the quicker Naraku dies." She crossed her arms over her chest superiorly.

He grinned at her. "Agreed." He nodded. "I will admit that the jewel is the key to drawing out Naraku but we youkai don't need such trinkets to help us gain what we seek."

"If that was true Sesshoumaru would have killed him by now. So HA!" She pointed out smugly.

"Ah but Sesshoumaru has come the closest to killing him several times already and without your silly little jewel." He pointed out knowingly. "Yet Naraku the coward he is always runs away before the final blow can be dealt. Only cowards need the jewel to fight and those without it who want it are the real problem."

"Are you calling Inuyasha a problem?"

"Actually yes." He admitted easily with a shrug of his shoulder. "Not only a problem but a selfish brat at that. He only wants the jewel; why?" He arched a dark brow at her.

Kagome slumped in the shoulders and stared down at the ground. "To bring Kikyo back." She whispered.

"Naraku wants the jewel; why?"

"To become the most powerful demon ever." She wrinkled her nose.

"Other hanyou and youkai want the jewel; why?"

"For power."

"We here in the western domain want the jewel; why?"

"You don't." She sighed and looked up at him. "Everyone here believes power comes from your own ability not from a wish on a jewel." Her eyes widened. "That's why Inuyasha isn't part of this pack," she nodded. "and why Sesshoumaru wants him out of his territory."

"And there you have it." He grinned. "The leader of the pack only wants those who are strong in his pack and those who aren't are useless."

"Now that makes more sense than his," she dropped her voice several octaves trying to sound like the great white bastard of an inu. "_he's a worthless half-breed that is a shame to the name he carries_." She smirked.

"Well I'm sure that is the first real reason." He grinned at her.

"I'm sure." She rolled her eyes. "Anyway," she waved her hand through the air. "I was going to ask you if you could do me a really huge favor?" She gave him her best puppy dog look hoping it worked even though he was a cat.

"Hmm?" He questioned with an arched brow.

"Will you let me record you changing into your cat form so I can see if I can pinpoint where it comes from and where it goes when you change back?" She questioned wide eyed and hopefully.


	14. Chapter 14

Yay another chapter! So this goes without saying but I'm going to say it anyway. Kei is mine and you can't have him! Oh and spoiler alert (kinda) below but not in the fic. So skip it if you don't want to be spoiled though being spoiled is kinda awesome, always getting what you want. But this isn't that kind of spoiler so skip it if you must.

Now on to the next order of business. I know about Buyo but for the sake of this fic we're going to pretend she isn't who she ends up being.

Alright enough of that and on with the fic! Much love for you all. Keva

xx

Sesshoumaru felt a wave of Kei's jaki roll over him and turned to the window to see what was going on. He wasn't surprised to see the miko standing nearby with her strange capturing device eyes wide and mouth agape. He also should have known that because she couldn't get him to change into his true form she'd talk that damn neko into doing it.

He didn't mind that Kei changed for her but what did bother him (for reasons he couldn't understand) was the way the girl was running her fingers through Kei's fur. Not only that but those little squeals of delight he could faintly hear (and for reasons he did not want to contemplate he would much rather be the one making her make those noises) and the contented purr that mangy feline was letting off.

His whole life he hated that sound and all he could think was he wanted to do whatever it took to stop it. His beast was in complete agreement and was itching to get free and show that cat just who was the bigger and better species.

Then he heard it and his gold eyes narrowed to deadly little slits. That mocking purring voice that only he and other youkai would be able to hear and understand.

_"You drool, I rule, and... oh yesss that feels good. This miko certainly knows how to get her little fingers into my fur and scratch just right. I think she likes me better than you and your mangy mutt."_

Amber eyes rimmed red as he seriously considered letting his beast loose just to show that flea ridden beast who was who. However that would just be playing into his dirty paws and he was better than that. Yet that didn't stop him from answering him with a growl of his own.

_"I have no need to resort to such juvenile behaviors to get her to like me; she already does."_

_"Aww… the puppy has a crush. How quaint."_ Came the answering growl.

Yes he was definitely going to kill him. _"You will regret those words."_

_"I'm right here whenever you're ready and if you would could you keep the drool down to a minimum. I just cleaned my coat and don't much care for cleaning your slobber off of me. It always tastes like rotted deer carcass."_

His red rimmed eyes began to grow darker as he watched the cat rub his face against the girl (causing her to fall down and giggle) scent marking her as his property. Now that would not do at all being that that dirty neko was removing his inu scent off of her and covering her with his foul feline scent.

It wasn't that he scent marked the girl ever but by her being in such close proximity to him for so long she just naturally absorbed it. Now that bastard was (and he knew without a doubt) deliberately erasing his inu scent and covering her with his. That would not do at all and before the girl left he was going to have to make sure that she once again carried his own scent.

It definitely wasn't because he liked her all that much; nope. He only wanted her to carry his scent just to irritate that half-breed. Plus he was sure Inuyasha had no clue in how to erase the more dominant inu scent she would carry in effect causing him to try to cover her in his own. So considering what an idiot the boy was he'd probably throw her to the ground and try to rub himself all over her earning him a whole lot of sits.

Now that would be most entertaining and worth following them when they left just to see if that in fact would happen.

_"You will cease this obscene behavior. The miko must prepare herself to return to her companions."_

Kei stretched languidly causing Kagome to ooh and aww over him doing so. _"Jealousy is unbecoming for one of your status. Such a shameful display, dogs have no real sophistication about them. That's why your master keeps you locked away."_ He purred loudly which brought forth Kagome's need to once again bury her fingers into his fur just near his chin as she squealed excitedly.

Sesshoumaru's beast powered through just the tiniest to let off a deadly warning growl. The only sign the inuyoukai showed at the near transformation was his deep ambers changing to a deadly blood red.

He pressed his beast back and rumbled forth his challenge. _"After the miko leaves you will regret those words."_

Kei looked back locking his crimson eyes upon him. _"I'm right here ready whenever you are and do please try to have some class this time. Your sneak attacks are a shameful display to your breed I can hear you coming every time; never mind your disgusting mongrel stench."_

Yes he was definitely going to kill him and finally be done with it. Kei himself was bad enough but that cat with his superiority complex like he was the most royal thing to ever exist irritated him to no end. He was the lord of this castle and these lands and it was high time to remind that mangy feline who was who and who hated water.

_"After the miko leaves, the clearing, nightfall."_

_"I'll be there little pup. Though you might want to keep the miko here so she can heal your wounds when we're done. Your whining does grow tiresome when you're injured."_

_"We will see who's going to need healing when we're done."_ He growled then turned in a swirl of white headed for his personal chambers before Kei could answer.

Some days he just couldn't figure out why he still tolerated Kei then other days he'd cut off his own arm than ever not have him in his life.

xx

Kagome stared up at Sesshoumaru with brows drawn. "What?"

"You have a foul stench about you." He nodded curtly. "Bathe."

"What do you mean?" Her eyes narrowed deeply. "Are you saying I stink?"

He blinked slowly as he stared at her thinking it to be completely beneath him to answer her questions when he already had. "You can use the springs in the west wing."

_"Your personal bath? Ooh aren't we charitable."_ A low mocking rumble vibrated from behind him where Kei was leaning against the wall.

_"Silence."_ He growled right back.

_"You do know she'll still carry my scent even after bathing in your personal bath."_ He smirked at the back of his silver head. _"The only way to ensure my marker is gone is for you to physically scent mark her yourself."_

He knew that and he sure as hell didn't need him to rub it in either. _"I will erase every trace of you on her before she leaves."_

Copper eyes widened just the slightest. _"You could have just said she was your bitch in the first place."_

"What are you two doing?" Kagome questioned as she watched the two youkai and noted that each were making just the slightest facial expressions... well Sesshoumaru was and Kei was just grinning knowingly. Not only that but she was pretty sure she could hear rumbling coming from one of them like they were quietly growling. Never mind the long stretch of silence the three of them were suddenly surrounded in.

"Nothing important." Kei winked at her.

"I bet." She eyed him critically then looked at the inu in front of her. "Now why do I need to take a bath now? I just took one this morning."

He was just going to have to say it and rub it in Kei's face that his cat did in fact have a foul stench about it. "You have the neko's scent all over you and it is foul." He nodded curtly at her. _"Maybe if someone made their beast bathe once in awhile it wouldn't be so offensive to the nose."_

_"Ho aren't you the funny one drool boy."_ Kei snorted. _"But remind me again of when your mangy mutt had a bath last? You can't even let it loose to bathe because it always seems to take advantage of its freedom. To this day it amazes me that you of all youkai in the world have such an uncouth beast."_

He did actually find it odd that his beast was everything he wasn't and Kei's beast was the refined beast he wished his would be. However that didn't mean he liked to hear about it.

"What is going on?!" Kagome stamped her foot to the ground now knowing without a doubt Kei and Sesshoumaru were having a private conversation. She could hear them growling and Sesshoumaru narrowing his eyes for no apparent reason was a dead giveaway. "Are you talking about me?!"

"No, just discussing who really needs a bath around here and who doesn't." Kei answered with a grin at her. "So do you think you need a bath because my beast scent marked you?"

"No." She shook her head and grinned at him. "I mean I can't smell it and who cares if I smell like you to others?"

"Apparently someone around here cares," he jerked his head at Sesshoumaru. "and more than he'd ever let on."

"Silence." Sesshoumaru growled.

"Why would you care that he scent marked me?" Kagome questioned with brows drawn. "I mean what difference does it make when a cat scent marks then when a dog scent marks?" She questioned finding this whole thing just as interesting as everything else she discovered about youkai and their beasts.

Sesshoumaru sighed deeply through his nose not really wanting to explain especially because of the reason a cat scent marks. _"She will think you to be in love with her."_

Kei shrugged though the inu wouldn't be able to see him do so. "I don't mind." He answered for both of them to hear.

"You don't mind what?" She looked at the neko still leaning against the wall.

"A cat scent marks in two ways. One is to spray…"

"I know." Kagome wrinkled her nose cutting him off. "I have a cat at home that sprayed a lot before we got her fixed."

Kei grinned and nodded at her. "The second way a cat marks is to rub their face and body against things." His eyes glinted and cut to Sesshoumaru's back when he gave a small jerk of his head to get her to watch him. "They do that partly to mark territory and partly to mark out their property."

Kagome's eyes widened as she stared at Sesshoumaru who's ambers narrowed just the slightest. After all her research into dog and pack behavior it now made sense why he wanted her to bathe so bad. "You're jealous."

Kei started laughing out loud causing Sesshoumaru to growl deadly.

"I most certainly am not." He narrowed his ambers upon her. "However as part of this pack you are to carry the pack leaders scent and no others."

"Wait," she drew her brows. "what difference would it make?" She stared up at him. "Isn't Kei part of this pack and if so doesn't his scent count as being part of this pack? Though," she looked down and furrowed her brows even further. "I'm not really part of this pack being before I got here and after I leave I'll be back with Inuyasha and his pack."

"Yes I'd like to hear the answer to that myself." Kei added watching Sesshoumaru tense even more in the shoulders and continue to growl out deadly threats to him.

"Miko, the whelp has no pack. The mere fact that it is so easy for him to abandon you and your friends when the dead one is around show his lack of leadership and protection." He nodded curtly at her. "Also from the moment you survived my poison you became a part of my pack."

"Really?"

"Hai." He again nodded at her. "My scent lingers on you still from that day and will for the rest of your life."

"Huh." She brought her fist to her chin in thought. "Is that why Inuyasha gets irritated about being so close to me sometimes?" She stared back up at him just as confused as ever. "And I thought scent marking lasted for three days. Three days to get the scent mark to stick and three days for it to fade after being separated from the inu that did the scent marking."

"The answer regarding Inuyasha is yes." He pointed out as the temptation to smirk at the thought very nearly curled the corner of his lip upward. "As for the scent mark that you carry belonging to me it is a different scent marker. My poison was intended to kill, instead you absorbed it scent marking yourself as part of my pack. Have you never wondered why I never actually killed you?"

"Well not really until after I realized that you never really tried to kill Inuyasha either." She nodded. "Then when I did I realized it was because you considered all of us part of your pace because we reside within your territory."

"Iie, your friends and the half-breed do not belong to this pack. They have no pack status for Inuyasha is a solitary inu with no pack to speak of. You and your friends are a temporary pack that he can walk away from easily."

That's what she suspected but really didn't want to believe it. Then again the way Inuyasha would run off to Kikyo without a backwards glance should have told her he didn't care like a real pack leader would. "Yea." She agree begrudgingly but only barely so. "Alright then lets get back to this poison scent marking thing." She nodded not wanting to talk about Inuyasha and his lack of REAL loyalty to her.


	15. Chapter 15

Here's another one that kinda comes and goes. Ah well it's better than nothing at all I suppose. Hope you enjoy! Much love for you all. Keva

xx

"It wasn't intentional." He nodded curtly.

"Of course it was." She glared at him. "You were trying to kill me. If that isn't intentional I don't know what is."

"Yes and you were suppose to die like any other living thing at the mercy of my poison." He pointed out. "However you stubbornly refused to die in effect becoming part of my pack. Now enough," he growled. "you will go bathe and prepare to depart once the hanyou arrives."

"Kagome," Kei winked over at her. "ask him about scent marking you with his scent."

"Silence neko!" Sesshoumaru growled.

Kagome shook her head. "No, I think I want to know the answer to that question."

"Bathe and you will have your answer." Sesshoumaru answered curtly.

"Why do I always have to do what you say to get what I want?" She demanded with a stamp of her foot.

"As long as it pertains to me you will follow my orders." He pointed out. "Now go do as you have been told." He ordered then turned and swept away in a swirl of white silk.

Kagome looked over at Kei who just shrugged at her.

"I say the sooner you do as he says the sooner you'll get your answer." He winked. "Though I do find that I prefer you to carry my scent instead of that mangy mutt's."

"I heard that." Sesshoumaru's voice suddenly echoed down the hall.

"Of course you did." Kei snorted then with a nod at Kagome followed after the inu.

Kagome sighed deeply and decided to just go bathe so she could find out HOW Sesshoumaru intended to scent mark her. For some reason she would never say out loud but she suspected it involved being liked from head to toe.

Just the thought of Sesshoumaru licking her all over her body sent a shiver up her spine. The problem was she wasn't sure if it was a good shiver or a bad one.

xx

Kagome stood in front of Sesshoumaru freshly bathed in a new set of clothes waiting for whatever it was he was going to do. For some reason she was nervous beyond belief and couldn't stop wringing her hands in front of her.

"Are you unwell?" Sesshoumaru questioned as he watched her.

"No, I'm fine." She smiled weakly up at him. "It's just… well… you know this scent marking thing. What are you going to do to me and how bad will it hurt?"

A silver brow arched highly at that as a chuckle sounded from the feline sitting on the steps behind him. "Why would you think it would hurt?"

"Well the poison you sprayed me with was more on the painful side and you're not exactly known for gentle subtleties." She nodded.

"Silence." He growled at Kei who was now laughing out loud. "This will cause you no harm." He nodded curtly at her.

"You better hurry it up." Kei lounged back against the steps. "He's almost here."

"I am well aware." Sesshoumaru nodded curtly with a glance towards the front gate.

"You mean Inuyasha?" Kagome questioned following Sesshoumaru's line of sight towards the gate.

"Hai." The inuyoukai nodded curtly then looked back at her and grabbed her by the shoulders.

Kagome's eyes snapped wide as she stared up at him. "What?"

"Remain still." He ordered then slowly trailed his hands down her arms pressing his scent into her skin. He worked his way down then laced his fingers with hers when he reached her hands.

Kagome gasped as her heart rate accelerated to the point she was sure it was going to beat right out of her chest. "Sesshoumaru?" She whispered as he leaned in towards her and rubbed his cheek against hers.

He grunted in response and slowly turned and nuzzled her with his nose moving from her cheek to her neck.

"Really." Kei snorted under his breath which was only loud enough for Sesshoumaru to hear. "Are you mating her or marking her?" He rumbled in his chest.

Sesshoumaru chose to ignore the neko as he moved across her neck to her right side and nuzzled her pulse point. He could feel her erratic heartbeat and smirked to himself.

"3… 2…" Kei suddenly counted down. "1…"

"Kagome!" Inuyasha suddenly yelled as he leapt over the wall.

Sesshoumaru ignored the hanyou and held Kagome in place when she jerked at the hanyou's voice. "Remain still." He growled into her ear then nuzzled it with his nose. Granted his scent was sufficiently infused into her skin but this was a good chance to irritate his sibling. This was a chance he was going to full advantage of.

"Get the fuck away from her!" Inuyasha bellowed as he pulled his sword from his hip.

"Kei." Sesshoumaru growled.

Kei sighed deeply as he stood up and stretched. "On it." He smirked over at the hanyou. "You want to play?"

"Fuck no!" Inuyasha pointed Tessaiga at him. "I'm here for that bastard not you!" He pointed his sword at Sesshoumaru. A snarl suddenly tore from his lips when he saw his brother run his tongue up the side of Kagome's neck. "I said get away from her! Kagome!" He bellowed trying to get her to respond.

"Sit." She whispered breathlessly as a shudder tore through her body at the feel of Sesshoumaru's tongue on her skin.

"Hn." Sesshoumaru smirked as he pulled away and ran his hands back up the length of her arms.

"Sesshoumaru?" She looked at the inu as his fingers moved over her neck to trail through her hair.

"Maybe you should take this inside." Kei rolled his eyes. "Scent marking my ass."

Sesshoumaru removed his fingers from her hair and looked over at the neko. "Sunset." He growled.

"You're on." He smirked then looked down at the hanyou who was cursing up a storm from the crater he was in. "It's no wonder you're in the shape you're in with a mouth like that."

"Shut the fuck up already." He growled as he got to his feet. "Kagome!" He stormed over to said girl who was practically drooling all over herself as she stared at Sesshoumaru. "We're leaving." He ordered and grabbed her by the wrist.

Kagome jerked out of her stupor and pulled her hand from his hold. "Inuyasha stop being so bossy!" She bit out. "I'll leave when I'm darn well ready to leave!"

Inuyasha spun on her and narrowed his ambers deeply. "What's the matter Kagome," he bit her name irritably. "you're not done being molested by that bastard?!"

"He wasn't molesting me!" She argued.

"It didn't look that way from my point of view." He pointed a finger in her face.

"I don't know how you can view anything with your head so far up your butt." She slapped his finger out of her face.

Kei laughed at that. "Kami Kagome, I'm going to miss you when you're gone."

Kagome smiled over at him. "Well it's not like we'll never see each other again," she looked back at Sesshoumaru. "right?"

Sesshoumaru gave her a curt nod then looked over at the rest of her companions as they entered the courtyard.

"Kagome!" Shippou bounded over to her and landed in her arms. "We've been looking for you all over the place."

Kagome laughed nervously and looked over at Sango and Miroku. "Sorry." She whispered sheepishly.

"It's okay." Miroku nodded at her. "We're just glad you're okay."

"I agr…" Sango fell silent when her hand was grabbed by the neko that suddenly appeared before her.

"Well hello there." Kei smiled charmingly at her as he trailed his thumb over her knuckles. "Kagome didn't tell me she had such a beautiful friend." He winked then brought her hand up to his lips and kissed it.

Sango blushed and giggled nervously. "Thank you."

"No thanks are necessary." He looked back at her locking stares. "If a woman is beautiful she should be told so and often."

"Wow, he's good." Kagome looked up at Sesshoumaru who snorted in return. "Looks like Miroku has some competition." She looked over at said hoshi who was glaring deadly at Kei.

"Who gives a shit about them!" Inuyasha growled then stared at his sibling. "Why were you molesting Kagome; you bastard!"

"I wasn't." Sesshoumaru answered simply. "Now leave." He ordered coldly.

"Feh, fine." The hanyou bit out and grabbed Kagome by the arm causing Shippou to fall from her hold. "Let's get the fuck outta here."

"I agree." Miroku nodded curtly then grabbed Sango by the arm and pulled her close to his side.

"Hey!" Kagome jerked free of his hold. "I've told you a thousand times not to grab me like that!"

"Well if you would just come on already I wouldn't have to grab you like that!" He bit out and grabbed her arm a second time.

Before Kagome could say a word Inuyasha was plucked up by his neck and flung over the castle wall. "Wooow…" She whispered as she watched her hanyou friend fly through the air cursing up a storm. "Good throw."

Sesshoumaru nodded down at her.

"Well," she picked up her bag and slung it over her shoulder. "I guess I'll see you later." She frowned just the slightest at him.

"It's not forever miko." He pointed out.

"Yea, but, after all this time this kinda feels like leaving home." She sighed sadly. "I feel this exact same way every time I leave home to come here and it makes it really hard to actually go."

"I see." He stared down at her. "In that case once you finish your task as the shikon miko you can consider this your home in this time."

Her eyes widened. "Really?"

He inclined his head and placed his hand on her head. "As a member of my pack wherever my home is is where you home is as well."

She couldn't help but beam brightly at him.

"No go to the hanyou before he returns and I am required to put him down for good."

She couldn't help herself as she threw her arms around him and hugged him tightly. "Arigato Sesshoumaru!" She whispered against his chest before she released him and ran out to find Inuyasha. She didn't think he would much approve of her hugging him in front of everyone like that. So to avoid the possible consequences she high-tailed it out of there with Shippou following close behind her.

"We better go as well." Miroku pulled Sango along next to him.

"Miroku let me go!" Sango jerked from his hold and slapped him a good one for pulling her around like that.

"My lady Sango I was just…"

She gave him a scathing glare which instantly shut him up.

"I love a feisty strong-willed woman." Kei grinned at her. "You're welcome to come back and visit me anytime just leave your monk at home."

Sango blushed again as she smiled at him. "He's not my monk."

"Even better." Kei purred.

Miroku glared at the neko. He then snatch Kirara up who had been rubbing her head all over Kei's ankles lovingly. "Kirara have some dignity." He bit out as he stiffly left the castle courtyard.

"I better go as well." Sango bowed to the two youkai watching her.

"As you wish." Kei nodded in return and watched her as she turned and walked away.

"You're disgusting." Sesshoumaru snorted at his neko friend.

Kei looked over at him with eyes narrowed just the slightest. "Yes and you practically mating the miko right in front of me wasn't?" His eyes narrowed even further. "Now you want to tell me what all that cuddling with her was about?"

"Entertainment." He smirked as his ambers glinted. "Shall we?" He started walking towards the gate.

"Oh I get it." Kei smirked in return as he followed after him. He was rather interested in seeing what was going to happen between the inu and the miko next. He gave it another month if not week before they decided to act on their attraction of each other.


End file.
